Excerpt from Irish Literature, Section Three; The Selected Writings of Samuel Lover, Vol. 7 of 10: He Would Be a Gentleman, Part I F any reader should think the title of my book1 an odd one, and mutter to himself, A s. D. L - what does that mean? -to him I beg, in Irish fashion, to answer by putting another question, What does it not mean These Roman initials for Pounds Shillings and Pence, have a more extended meaning than could be treated of in a preface, - a deeper hold upon human affections than many would like to own. There is magic in this triumvirate of letters, which, representing money, governs the world. Youth and beauty are slaves to age and ugliness, by 8. D. Valour and good faith are beaten by cowardice and treachery, through 16. S. D. Wars have begun, and peaces have been bought, through 3. D. National rights and national wrongs have been based on 8. D. Where lies the root of most senatorial questions -in 3. D. The aspirations which stir our souls, under the name of ambition, are too often but the illuminated letters, 3. D. In short, the golden fleece is branded with s. D. In placing Irish Heirs and 3. D. In juxta - position, I have made an alliance quite in the spirit of a work of. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This 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.