davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-10-25

exact knowledge is the very basis of good
conversation. To know a great MANY
things well is to have in hand the best
and most reliable materials of good con-
yersatlon. There is nothing like album
dance and exactness of knowledge with
which to furnish talker. Next to this.
perhaps, is familiarity with polite litera-
ture. The faculty of quoting from the
best authors is a very desirable one.
Facts are valuable, and thoughts perhaps
are quite as valuable, especially as they
are more stimulating to the conversation
OF group. The talker who deals alone
IN facts is quite likely to have the talk
all to himself, while the man who is
familiar with thoughts and ideas, as he
mas found them embodied in literature,
becomes stimulator of thought and con-
versatlon IN those around him. Famil-
lanty with knowledge and with the pro-
ducts OF literary art cannot be too much
insisted on as the furniture of good con-
versation.
Beyond this the good talker must be
familiar with the current thought and
events of his time. There should be no
movement in politics, religion, and So
clety that the good talker is not familiar
with. Indeed, the man who undertakes
to talk at all must know what is upper
most IN mems minds, and be able to add
to the general fund of thought and
knowledge, and respond to the popular
inquiry and the popular disposition for
discussion. The man who undertakes to
be good talker should never be caught
mapping concerning any current topic of
immediate public interest.
How to carry and convey superioritv
OF knowledge and culture without ap-
pearing to be pedantic, how to talk out
OF abundant stores of information and
familiarity with opinion without SEEMING
to preach, as Coleridge was accused Of
doing, belongs, with the ability to talk
well, to the art of conversation" IT.
has seemed to US that if young people
could only see how shallow and sillv
very much of their talk is, and must
necessarily be, so long as they lack the
materials of conversation, they would
take more pains with their study, would
devote themselves more to the best books
and that, at least, they would ACQUIRE
and maintain more familiarity with i'm
portant current events. To know some
thing is the best cure for neighborhood
gossip, for talk about dress, and for ten
thousand frivolities and silIinesses of So
ciety. Besides a good talker needs an
audience to understand and respond to
him, and where is he to find one if there
is not abundant culture around him?
Dr. Holland.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-10-25
Good Takers.

The first requisite of a good talker is
genuine social sympathy. A man may
not say, out Of some selfish motive, or
some motive Of personal policy go to I!
will become a good talker" He must
enjoy society, and have a generous desire
to serve and please. We have all seen
the talker who talks for his own purposes.
or talks to please himself. He is the we'll
known Characteristic talking bore. The
talker who gets himself up for show, who
plans his conversations for an evening.
and Grams for them, becomes intolerable,
He lectures he does not converse for
there IS no power Of talker so delightful
as that Of exciting others to talk and
listening to what his own insnlrinp and
suggestive utterances have called forth.
Genuine social sympathy and hearty
desire to please others are necessary to
produce such a talker as this, and no
other is tolerable. Social sympathy is a
natural gift, and there is a combination
Of other gifts which constitute what NAV
be called esprit that are very essential to
a good talker. This combination in
cludes individuality tact and wit-the
talents, aptitudes, and peculiar charac-
teristic charm which enable a man to
use the materials OF conversation in an
engaging way, entirely his own; for
every good talker has his own way of
saying good things, as well as of manag.
ing conversation based on his esp1lt.
Yet it IS true that there are no good
takers who depend upon their natural
gifts and such material as they get in the
usual interchanges Of society. For the
materials Of conversation we must draw
upon knowledge. No man can be a
thoroughly good talker who does not
know great deal Social sympathy
and 8" the gift Of CAB" go but short way
toward producing good conversation,
though we hear great deal Of this kind
Of talk among the young Sound and
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-10-25

and full Of cares and sorrows to the digni-
ty OF an Introductory and preparatory
state, leading on, in its possible results
to blessedness that can have no measure
or end. If we live in it as though it were
our all it is worthless thing. But if
we live In it as though it were the vesti-
bule OF grand temple, in whose spaci-
Gus courts weare toabide, it has unspeak-
able significance and worth. 1t has
value which is given it by its immediate
connection with that which is grander,
nobler, and more enduring. 1t remains
bret and unsatisfying, vexed with cares,
and always darkened with the forebod-
lngs OF death; but it is ennobled by the
fact that through it we may pass, by
Gods grace, to the permanent and eternal
sphere.
When, therefore, men look with scowl-
ing faces upon life, and cast bitter curses
upon it, we can only conclude that they
have forgotten or denied their own i'm
mortality. Let them look upward with
faith, and they can look backward with
satisfaction and forward with hope. The
brief present life will rise out of its mean
and sorrowful environment and assume
some of the importance and dignity of
the endless life for which it can fit us
and into which it must usher us.-BeZ-
fast Witness.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-10-25
Hindu Widows.

That theyouthful wife or wives Of the
budding Hindu are very much under the
personal jurisdiction o. their motber.in-
law has always been regarded as q No.
cullaT TACT IN Indian sociology; but the
appalling consequences which result
from this arrangement have rarely been
orousny to light in so forcible a manner
as IN a case Of female suicide which has
recently been the subject Of inquiry in
bombay 1t was proved that the girl,
almost a child in age, who had com
mltted the dread act of selEdestruction
mad been driven to it by the persistent
persecution which she had undergone at
the ruthless hands of her husbands
mother ever since her marriage. Tn
directing the jury, the coroner stated the
remarkable fact that by far the LARGEST
number OF female Hindu suicides are
those OF women between the ages Of
twelve and twenty, and it is bevond
question that the cause which impels
these hapless women to put an end to
thelr existence, Just when at an ace to
reap most enjoyment from it, is in nearly
every case the organized despotism of
the mother-in-law in the interior of the
zenana. How this state of affairs is TO
be re9medied it difficult to see, although
IN the instance referred to, the coroner
declared the need of a complete change
IN Hindu social habits. The only change
which would be efectual is for the vouSg
Hindu not to bring his wife home 10 fbe
maternal mansion; but to set up house
Tor himself with his matrimonial partner
according to European custom. This
however, would be such a complete
revolution in native habit, seeing that
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-10-25
A Greek Village Church.
81 EUNICE w. FELTON.

On Sunday, almost before daylight,
the bells began to ring for morning SER
vice, and the peasants, who are early
rlsers, were soon focking into the little
church. Not only the villagers came.
but people from surrounding farms and
from my window saw the priest, who
had come from distance, digmountino
from his horse, and answering the sal
utatlons of his pensioners, who perhaps
had the more regard for him because he
did not live among them, but came only
once fortnight to conduct service. I
had been told that there was to be a
second Liturgia said at seven o'clock, for
the master and family so I waited for
that hour, when we all walked down to-
gether. On entering the church we
found there a goodly number Of peas
ants, who had not been able to get to the
early mass. AS is the custom in the
Greek church, the congregation remained
standing during the entire service, the
men on the right, and the women on the
left. They were very devout in manner,
looking toward the picture of the Virgin
near the altar and to her they addressed
their prayers, in low voice, their only
motion being the frequent sign of the
cross. Several mothers were there. hold
ing babies in their arms, with small
children clinging to their skirts. The
little ones crossed themselves with their
tiny fingers, in imitation of their elders.
Sometimes person coming in would step
forward, put down a small coin. and
light little taper, which he would put
into the candlestick, saying prayer for
the soul Of dead friend, or would kiss
the picture Of the Virgin. The priest,
who ohiciated at the altar, had exchanged
his usual black robe for gayly-colored
one Of some common stuff, and his hair.
always concealed under his high cap. ex-
cept in church, hung down in heavy
black curls over his shoulders. He went
through the prayers in loud, nasal
chant, and read the gospel in the same
tone, with great speed, assisted in his
duties by a peasant lad whom he had
trained, and who was probably destined
to be a priest The worshippers made
their responses with fervor, and after the
doxology was said went up and kissed
the priests hand, and the Bible which
he held. This was handsomely bound in
silver and gold, set with colored stones.
and was family relic; so also was the
sacred picture, worn and efaced, as if It
dated fran Byzantine days. The Greeks
often have these valuable religious pic
lures hanging on the wall at the head of
the bed, and devout soul keeps a light
ed taper burning day and night before
them
AS we came out Of church, the people
all crowded about Mr. and Mrs. x, who
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-10-25
TIE Norm AMERICAN Review for November

THE North AMERICAN REVIEW for November.
Contents
English Views of Free Trade Disc der in
Court Rooms A Problem for Sociologists; The
Industrial Value of Woman Advantages of the
Jury System Safety in Theatres The Preten-
sions of Journalism The Suppression of Vice.
Published at No. 80 Lafayette Place, New
York
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY for November. Con
tents:
Two on Tower; How shall the American
Savage be Civilized? Midnight Ride in
Spain; Studies in the South Under the Skv
Tapestries; Beaumarchais The House of a
Merchant Prince; Domestic Country Life in
Greece RUDE Jones ;.Recent Memoirs of Cicero
a Modern Instance; Daniel Macmillan, ETC.,
etc, etc.
Boston Houghton, Miffiin & Co.
HARPER's MAGAzINE for November. Contents
The Early Quakers in England and Pennsyl.
vania; Pordenone-A Poem; The Home of the
Doones Similia-A Poem; Across Lots His
Cavalier-A Poem; Southern California-II
The Brides Toilette-A Poem; Autumn
Sketches, etc. ETC.. ETC.
Harper& Brothers, Franklin Square, N. York.
POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY for November
Contents:
Sewer Gas The Science of the Present Period;
TOl0 NuItOus eSeIaOle GroWths The Law OF
Human Increases Science in Relation to the
Arts; Physiognomic Curiosities; The British
Lion; Scientific Farming at Rothamsted Who
was Primitive Man Life among the Battas OF
Sumatra, etc. ETC., etc.
D. Appleton & Co., publishers, New York.
THE CENTURY MAGAZINE for November. Con
tents:
Portrait of Florence Nightingale; Venice
Henry James, Jri Faiths Fortitude; Victor
Hugo; The Poet Years; A Coal Fragment A
New Profession for Women Wood Engraving
direct from Nature The Christian League Of
Connecticut The Beginning of Nation, etc.
Published by The Century Co., 80 east 18th
st. (Union Square, New York.
The AMERICAN ANT1oUAR1Av AND Oriental
goURNAL. Edited by Rev Stephen D. Peet
fu0hshed-by Jameson & Morse, Chicago, I'll.
LITTELLs LIVING AGE for the week ending
October Dist
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-10-25
Wrong Estimates of Life.

Life, said dying lawyer, who had
lived IN selfish ease and indifference, and
IN the indulgence of those evil passions
which steadily debase men-"fife is a
miserable humbug" and emphasizing his
contemptuous and hopeless words By a
fearful oath he departed from the life
which he at first wasted and then des-
pissed. He had made life time of sin, a
scene of wasteful and riotous living and
it was his punishment to be compelled to
look back upon it as a period utterly
barren Of all real happiness Nor could
there be more terrible punishment than
to find, as memory reviewed the past,
nothing but the ashes of Aeeting, unsat-
isfying pleasures, and so be forced to
curse life and die.
There are many who would recoil from
such desperate Ainging away of life
as a worthless thing, who suffer them
selves to fall into the habit of speaking
shghtlngly OF it, or affect thus to speak
OF it. The English poet, who aspired to
be moralist as we'll, had no higher con-
ception to give of life than to call it a
poor play" in which, we suppose. it
should be mans only concern to render
his part respectfully caring little when
the curtain might fall and the lights 90
out. No real or permanent interest can
be given, OF indeed ought to be given, to
that which is at best poor play"
Against this low, despairing estimate
OF life, we wish to make an earnest pro.
test. 1t is neither miserable hum
bug nor "poor play 1t is serious.
real, important thing. We may waste
1t, and deg-ade it, and make it a scene OF
sordld labor or of guilty revels, but it
is IN itself a possession Of priceless value,
and may become fruitful in happiness to
ourselves, good to our felow-men, and
glory to God. No one can afix proper
estimate to it who is content to spend its
precious hours in Incidence or vice, or in
the more respectable work Of mere money
getting. 1t is a vulgar and pitiful cour-
age which affects to speak Of it as a
thing to be lightly cast from us.
We may say further, that the disposi-
ton to make this false estimate Of the
value of life is found chiefly in those who
profess to believe that this is the only
life which we are ever to see, or who live
as if this were the only one. Herein.
too IS a strange thing. Possessions which
are rare are in that proportion precious.
To undervalue that which we cannot re-
place is not according to the ordinary
judgments Of men. II all our enioyments
are to be gathered here, in this present
lifetime, it would seem to be a most valu-
able period Yet men who say that is
the sole possession Of the kind which we
will ever have, say also that it is utterly
valueless-" miserable humbug."
The fact is, that the true value OF the
present life consists in its relation to a
life in the future 1t is as The introduc.
ton to the immortal life that it becomes
a thing OF so much real worth to us. It
rises from being period brief, troubled
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-10-25
Great Diamonds.

Some great diamonds have disap-
peared-are in retirement, so to speak (;
some have gone to pieces; others, like the
Koh-l-noor, have been unskillfully cut,
so as to have lost their remarkable size {;
and some, sad to relate, are suspected of
imposture, are believed to be crystals or
wine-topaz, (which consists, we are
told, "of a fuo-silicate mixed with
silicate of aluminium" This suspicion
attaches, unfortunately, to the stone
which stands highest on the list, the
great Braganza which is by far the larg-
est diamond not only now in existence,
but Of which there is any record, if, in
deed, it is a diamond. 1t weighs over
eleven ounces or $50 carats, is the size
of a goose's egg, and has been valued at
$500, 100000 1t was discovered about
1873, In Brazil, by three convicts, ac-
cording to one story, and was sent to the
Regent of Portugal, Dom John, afterward
John VI. Authorities differ as to it's
value as well as its genuineness. We have
given the highest estimate; but another
authority considers that in it's present
form it is worth only 95,644, 500. The
stone is rough and would, by cutting,
be reduced about two-thirds, or to 500
carats.
Natural stones are prettiest in their
natural state, and cutting reduces them,
both in value and weight. The Kohl
moor, for example, when it arrived in this
country weighed little over 186 carats.
Before cutting, it looked like a very
precious jewel; after cutting, besides
losing weight, it came to resemble the
prismatic drop of chandelier. The
Koh-i-noor is grayish stone and is too
thin to be of the finest quality yet even
since it had been robbed of its great
weight, it is valued at more than &1OO,-
900.
One of the largest diamonds in the
world quitting aside the suspected Bra
ganza) is that owned by the Sultan of
Malan, in the island of Borneo. This
stone was found in 1877, at Landok, a
mine in his country. 1t weighs 367
carats, but is uncut. Sir Stamford
Raftles noted about it that, on this &C.
count, it may be difficult to say whether
it will become the largest cut diamond
ever known; for the famous diamond of
Aurengzeb, called the Mogul, in its
rough state weighed 795 carats and was
then valued at 100000; but when cut
was reduced to 279 carats." Here we
have the same question as to cutting
restated, and cannot tell whether the
Great Matan is to be reckoned really
great or not. The Great Mogul, we may
remark, has disappeared, and is, there
fore, not in the competition. Neither is
the Nizam, which belongs to the Nizam
of Hyderabad and is $40 carats in its
uncut state; nor the Stewart, which
weighs 288 and is the largest yet sent
home from South Africa. Next comes
the Star of the South, which was found
in Brazil, in 1858, and weighed 254
carrats; but was cut down to 125, so that
it Is surpassed by several others. The
next is called Du Tot 1, and, considering
that this stone weighs since it was cut no
less than 244 carats, is, therefore, by far
the largest cut diamond known Lon.
don Saturday Review.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-10-25
The Autumn Woods.

The autumn woods are glowing
In robes of gold and red,
The summer green is going,
The leaves will soon be dead;
And soon the winds will mutter
Their sorrowful refrain,
And down the leaves will hutter,
Like showers of golden rain.
Just like the leaves that perish,
Are earthly hope and fear;
The wishes that we cherish
But come to disappear;
'Twixt life and death they're ranging,
Yet one sure hope is given,
Eternal, never changing,
The precious hope Of heaven
The Quiver for October.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-10-25

shook'hand with each one, and made in
quiries after all their concerns. The
peasants were dressed in their best
clothes, and looked neat and thrifty and
whabespecially struck me was the entire
ease and dignity of their bearing; there
was no apparent shyness, and their greet
ing to us, the strangers, was most cordial
and hearty, each putting out has hand to
shake ours.-Novem6er atlantic.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-10-25

several generations usually live and have
their being under the same roof-tree,
that centuries would be necessary to
bring 1t about. We should rather, GER
haps, look to the ameliorating and hu-
manizing tendencies of the noble efforts
of those Christian ladies who penetrate
into the secret depths of the zenanas and
carry into them the lessons of a higher
morality. DatN IeLeqraph.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-10-25

AMERICAN NEWSPAPER ANNUAL for 1892. N.
W. Aver & Son, Philadelphia, abOunds with
newspaper statistics. 1t contains statistics of
the population of the United States, of each
State of the counties and towns Catalogue
of papers published in the United States and
British Provinces of America, and vast deal
of other valuable matter for all business men.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-10-25

SIBLEY's FARMERS ALMANAC for 1888, is a
really valuable pamphlet 1t contains des-
cription, with illustrative cuts, of all the best
varieties of garden vegetables and great deal
Of valuable information for the practical farmer.
Mr. Sibley himself is one of the best and largest
farmers in the United States His business ad-
dress is Hiram Sibley & Co., Rochester, N. Y,
and Chicago, Ill.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-10-25
Recent Publications.

THE AMERICAN NEWSPAPER CATALOGUE for
1882, by Edwin Alden & Brothers, Cincinnati,
Ohio, gives a complete and reliable catalogue of
the newspapers published in the United States
and Canada, with their circulation. tits very
handsome volume and contains much useful in
formation for editors, advertisers, and business
men generally.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-07-08
LITERARY NOTES,

Mr. E.P Whipple's personal "reminiscences Oh MT
Emerson are to be published in Hdrpcrs -ho9oE"e'
The novel by Mrs. Macquoid which the Putnams
nrinted last winter under the title OF Esau NUNS
wick has just appeared IN London as " fa'''iiui
Lover
The house in Cheync Walk. Chelsea. in which 'hc
late Dante Gabriel Rossetti lived is an historic one
If is the Oldest in the Walk and is the one described
by Thackeray in Esmond"
Professor Max Muller is quoted as having once
said of Mr.. Emerson: "He is neither American nor
English-the cast of his mind is Greek. lie ousn'
TO have lived centuries ago"
"Kinlcy Hollow is the title of a new rnericah
novel which is about to be brought out 10y Henry
Holt & Co Its author is G. II. Hoiiis'er' 4" p'i''"
who has had experience rs a writer.
Rces Welsh & Co.. of Philadelphia, have secured
Tho mates of Walt Whitman's Leaves OF Grass
and are about TO publish not only an edition Oh
that collection but an edition of his prose- writnsS
Those who cared TO read Carye's frivolous ana
IN tomnsrcd diary of his Irish tour may Ike TO
know that he has left manuscript descl'o.hs a
visit which he made TO Paris after the Revolution Vi
1sAe contains sketches of several of the notaole
statesmen of that time.
Tho nromised appearance of Thackcrays sup
,ressed nreface TO his Irish Sketch Book IS III
dofn;tel, nostponed. the firm of Smith ~ Elder
having claimed 10 possess exclusive copynght over
whatever work. whether printed or IN manuscript
was left by that distinguished writer
Tho funeral of the poet James Thomson was Il
,,oi,fullv sad one His Getty of Dreadful Nleh'
and some of his other writings were considered 81
athcistical that be was actually refused resting
Mace in consecrated ground. There was no puri'i
service, except a few tender words spoNen ~ @
friend whose voice. choked with EMOTION WIS
nearly inaudib!e. ,;a.o.o, 70
Robert Browning has not always been dispose" 70
sit down quietly under the charge vt obscurl'y. "
wrote thus to friend in 1865: can nave ".'''
doub, that my writing has been in the main 700
nord Cor many should have been pleased to COM
mun,cate with; but never designedly tried TO
pnzzle people as some of my critics have supposed
On the other hand Inever pretended 10 oi'eI SUI"
literature as should be substitute lor o,s"i " "
game of dominoes to an idle man. So perhaps o''
the whole get my deserts and something over
not n crowd but few value more"