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Read Ebook: Steve P. Holcombe the Converted Gambler: His Life and Work by Alexander Gross
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Ebook has 1051 lines and 125559 words, and 22 pages
The following are Extracts from a few of the favourable Reviews which have appeared of this Series:
WOODHOUSLEE: OR THE ASTROLOGER.
BY CHARLES HOOTON, ESQ.
New & Illustrated Edition of Mr. AINSWORTH'S Works.
IN ONE VOLUME, MEDIUM OCTAVO,
A NEW AND SUPERB EDITION OF
Also, in One Volume, Medium 8vo, price 10s. 6d. cloth.
OLD SAINT PAUL'S,
A TALE OF THE PLAGUE AND FIRE OF LONDON.
Splendidly illustrated on Steel by Franklin and Hablot K. Browne.
LONDON: PARRY & CO., 32 & 33. LEADENHALL STREET.
THE WORKS
G. P. R. JAMES, ESQ.
THE LITTLE BALL O' FIRE
Hablot K. Browne H. K. Browne & R. Young
"If you do not instantly quit me, sir," she exclaimed in a loud and vehement voice, "I will call those who can and will protect me against your daring insolence."
THE WORKS
G. P. R. JAMES, ESQ.
WITH AN INTRODUCTORY PREFACE.
THE LITTLE BALL O' FIRE.
THE
LITTLE BALL O' FIRE
OR,
The Life and Adventures
JOHN MARSTON HALL.
G. P. R. JAMES, ESQ.
"Wo viel Licht ist, ist starker Schatten!" G?tz von Berlichingen.
HER IMPERIAL MAJESTY
ALEXANDRA FEODEROWNA,
EMPRESS OF ALL THE RUSSIAS.
Madam,
I should have confined myself to expressing, in terms of unfeigned admiration and respect, my gratitude for the interest which Your Imperial Majesty is pleased to take in the literature of my country, and in the efforts of so humble an individual as myself, had I not felt that the work which you have permitted me to inscribe to your name is in every way unworthy of being presented to one, alike illustrious by talents and virtues, and by rank.
At the time that Your Imperial Majesty's gracious message was communicated to me, the following pages were not only written, but in the press; and my strong desire to obey your commands without any delay, induces me to dedicate this work to you, although it is in some degree connected with a former production, already, I believe, in Your Majesty's possession.
Under other circumstances, I might have laboured, though I certainly should have laboured in vain, to produce a work worthy of your acceptance; but I must then have delayed long what I was eager to perform promptly; and, most assuredly, nothing that I could have written would have worthily testified the admiration and pleasure with which I have marked, from afar, the immense efforts of yourself and your Imperial Consort to encourage literature and science in your dominions, and to improve the moral and social condition of your subjects.
That those efforts may be crowned with the most brilliant success, and repay you, to the last of your days, with the noblest recompence that monarchs can receive,--the blessings of a happy and enlightened people,--is the sincere prayer of
Your Imperial Majesty's
most humble
and most obedient Servant,
George Payne Rainsford James.
THE
LITTLE BALL O' FIRE
OR,
JOHN MARSTON HALL.
My father was a gentleman of small estate in Lincolnshire, whose family possessions, under a race of generous ancestors, had dwindled from splendid lordships to bare competence. His blood, which was derived from as noble a source as that of any in the land, had come down to him pure through a number of knights and nobles, who, though they were little scrupulous as to the means of spending their riches, were very careful not to augment them by cultivating any but the somewhat barren field of war. He made a love match with a daughter of the second Lord Wilmerton; and, in order that his wife might not draw unpleasant comparisons between the station of her husband and that of her father, he frequented the court, and lived beyond his means. He was already in difficulties when I was born; but, like a brave man, he resolved to meet them boldly, and, after some solicitation, obtained a small military appointment, which increased his revenue without adding to his expenses. Loyalty with him was a passion, which, like love in other men, prevented him from seeing any faults in its object; and, of course, as the court well knew that no benefits could make him more loyal than he already was, it showered its favours upon persons whose affection was to be gained, leaving him to struggle on without further notice.
My mother I hardly remember, though my memory is very good; but as her death took place before I was three years of age, her cares of my infancy were never extended even to my boyhood.
Left thus to conduct my education alone, my father, I firmly believe, would have suffered nothing to remain undone which could have contributed to render me a learned man, had not the civil war broken out, and all the royalists hastened to the support of the King. Amongst the first of the volunteers who flocked to the royal standard, when it was raised at Nottingham, was Captain Hall; and having been sent to Worcester with Prince Rupert, he showed himself the foremost in those acts of daring courage which turned the contest between Colonel Sandys and the Prince in favour of the Cavaliers. In every skirmish and in every battle which took place throughout the course of the great rebellion my father had his share. The natural desire of stimulus and excitement, which was originally strong in his character, grew gradually into a habit, and from a habit became a passion. The tidings of an approaching conflict would, at any time, have induced him to ride as far and fast as other men would go for more pacific pastimes; and the commanders of the royal armies perceived a want in their ranks when, on looking along the line, they could not discover the face of Captain John Hall.
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