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Lost Illusions

Creator: Balzac, Honoré de, 1799-1850
Translator: Marriage, Ellen
Contributor: -
Editor: -


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"Glory has a power of attraction to which we can confess," said Mme. de Bargeton, addressing the Marquise. "Some women are as much attracted by greatness as others by littleness," she added, looking at Francis. The was beyond Zephirine's comprehension; she thought her consul a very great man; but the Marquise laughed, and her laughter ranged her on Nais' side. "You are very fortunate, monsieur," said the Marquis de Pimentel, addressing Lucien for the purpose of calling him M. de Rubempre, and not M. Chardon, as before; "you should never find time heavy on your hands." "Do you work quickly?" asked Lolotte, much in the way that she would have asked a joiner "if it took long to make a box." The bludgeon stroke stunned Lucien, but he raised his head at Mme. de Bargeton's reply-- "My dear, poetry does not grow in M. de Rubempre's head like grass in our courtyards." "Madame, we cannot feel too reverently towards the noble spirits in whom God has set some ray of this light," said the Bishop, addressing


CONTENTS CHAPTER I. The study of astronomy a source of intellectual pleasure--By contemplating the heavens, the mind is led to wonder and adore--A proof of the existence of a Creator is afforded by creation--"We praise thee, O Lord!"--The beauty of Nature--Intellectual curiosity--"Order is Heaven's first law"--Value of astronomical study CHAPTER II. Herschel's parents--The two brothers--A musical family--An inventive genius--The brothers in England--Herschel as an organist--A laborious life--Mechanical ingenuity of William Herschel--Telescope-making--A Sunday misadventure--Constructing a twenty-foot telescope--A domestic picture--Discovery of a new planet--Herschel's combined musical and astronomical pursuits--A
Lolotte. "Yes, poetry is something holy. Poetry implies suffering. How many silent nights those verses that you admire have cost! We should bow in love and reverence before the poet; his life here is almost always a life of sorrow; but God doubtless reserves a place in heaven for him among His prophets. This young man is a poet," he added laying a hand on Lucien's head; "do you not see the sign of Fate set on that high forehead of his?" Glad to be so generously championed, Lucien made his acknowledgments in a grateful look, not knowing that the worthy prelate was to deal his deathblow. Mme. de Bargeton's eyes traveled round the hostile circle. Her glances went like arrows to the depths of her rivals' hearts, and left them twice as furious as before. "Ah, monseigneur," cried Lucien, hoping to break thick heads with his golden sceptre, "but ordinary people have neither your intellect nor your charity. No one heeds our sorrows, our toil is unrecognized. The gold-digger working in the mine does not labor as we to wrest metaphors from the heart of the most ungrateful of all languages. If this is poetry--to give ideas such definite and clear expressions that all the world can see and understand--the poet must continually range through the entire scale of human intellects, so that he can satisfy the demands of all; he must conceal hard thinking and emotion, two antagonistic powers, beneath the most vivid color; he must know how to