Books with author Henry Ward Beecher

Excerpt from Lectures to Young Men: On Various Important SubjectsAs Industry is habitual activity in some useful pursuit, so, not only inactivity, but also all efforts without the design of usefulness, are of the nature of Idleness. The supine sluggard is no more indolent than the bustling do nothing. Men may walk much, and read much, and talk much, and pass the day without an unoccupied moment, and yet be substantially idle because Industry requires, at least, the intention of usefulness. But gadding, gaz ing, lounging, mere pleasure-mongering, reading for the relief of ennui, - these are as useless as sleeping, or doz ing, or the stupidity of a surfeit.There are many grades of idleness; and veins of it run through the most industrious life. We shall indulge in some descriptions of the various classes of idlers, and leave the reader to judge, if he be an indolent man, to which class he belongs.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

'THIS little book is issued with a double intent. Complete in itself, it comes to the public most appropriately as a Christmas offering. And yet it bears reference to other topics and broader views than those of which it treats, and gives evidence of being, as it is, a fragment from a larger work. It is that portion of Mr. Beecher's "Life of Jesus, the Christ," which depicts the scenes and events clustering about the birth of our Lord. And the Publishers not only hope that it will be accepted as peculiarly harmonious with the happy Advent season, but believe that the mode in which it presents the record of those holy and precious scenes will arouse a still deeper interest.

"I know of no work so admirably calculated, if read with attention, to lead young men to correctness of thought and action, and I earnestly recommend it to the study of every young man who desires to become eminently respectable and useful." -Hon. John McLean, Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States "Characters and qualities, whether for warning or imitation, are drawn with uncommon graphic power and justness of delineation, as anyone may satisfy himself who will turn to 'the picture gallery,' and survey the full length portraits of the Wit, the Humorist, the Cynic, the Libertine, the Demagogue, and the Party-man. Would that every family might procure and peruse it!" -Christian Mirror, Portland, Maine "It is the most valuable addition to our youth literature that has been made for many years. Let all get it and read it carefully." -Louisville Journal "Every youth should possess it. Every father should place it in the hands of his sons. It should be in every Sabbath School Library, on board every Steamboat, in every Hotel, and wherever young men spend a leisure hour." -D. H. Allen, Professor at Lane Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio "To find anything new or peculiar in a work of this kind, now-a-days, would indeed be strange. In this respect we were agreeably surprised in looking over the book before us. The subjects, though many of them are common-place, are important and handled in a masterly manner. The author shows himself acquainted with the world, and with human nature, in all its varying phases. He writes as one who has learned the dangers and temptations that beset the young — from personal observation, and not from hearsay." -Daily Cincinnati Gazette "It is an excellent book, and should be in the hands of every young man, and of many parents. But few of those who are anxious to place their sons in large towns and cities — are aware of the temptations which beset them there; or of the many sons thus placed, who are unable to withstand these temptations. This work will open their eyes, and place them on their guard. It is written in a popular, captivating style, and is neatly printed. It goes right at the besetting sins of our age, and handles them without gloves. It ought to be extensively circulated." -Baptist Cross and Journal, Columbus, Ohio "In handling his subjects, the author has a peculiar style. There is a freshness and originality about it, which at once arrests attention. He writes with an ungloved hand — presents truth, as truth should be presented — naked! Whatever there is beautiful, or whatever there is hideous about her — there she stands, a mark for all to gaze at! We have vices enough in New England which need rebuking and reforming. There are none so virtuous who may not be profited by these lectures. They are addressed to the young men particularly — yet the aged may glean from them many a useful lesson. We commend the work heartily to all. It is not a dry, abstract treatise on morals; but highly practical throughout. The pictures presented are life-like — flesh and blood portraits. The illustrations are apt and insightful, while an occasional vein of humor comes in as a very agreeable seasoning. The author writes like one in earnest, like one who feels the importance of the duty he has assumed. A better work for the young, we have rarely read." -Portland Transcript

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Excerpt from From Dawn to Daylight: Or the Simple Story of a Western HomeSons years since, I prepared the following sketch of the life of a dear friend, with whose history I had been familiar. At the time, my only object was to shorten some of the lonely hours of a tedious convalescence, and to gratify and amuse my children. Nothing could have been further from my thoughts, than trusting myself to the ten der mercies of public Opinion. But months after, a clergy man's wife, visiting in the family, chanced to read the manuscript, and felt that, if published, it might do good by leading laymen to perceive how easily, by kindness, con siderateness and prompt payment, they could strengthen their Pastor's hands, or, on the contrary, paralyze all his efforts and encrgy, by negligence, thoughtlessness and selfishness.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work, maintaining the same format as the original work. While some publishers have opted to apply OCR (optical character recognition) technology to the process, we believe this leads to sub-optimal results (frequent typographical errors, strange characters and confusing formatting) and does not adequately preserve the historical character of the original artifact. We believe this work is culturally important in its original archival form. While we strive to adequately clean and digitally enhance the original work, there are occasionally instances where imperfections such as blurred or missing pages, poor pictures or errant marks may have been introduced due to either the quality of the original work or the scanning process itself. Despite these occasional imperfections, we have brought it back into print as part of our ongoing global book preservation commitment, providing customers with access to the best possible historical reprints. We appreciate your understanding of these occasional imperfections, and sincerely hope you enjoy seeing the book in a format as close as possible to that intended by the original publisher.