Excerpt from The Prose and Poetry of Europe and America, Consisting of Literary Gems and Curiosities: And Containing the Choice and Beautiful Productions of Many of the Most Popular Writers of the Past and Present Age, Being a Rare and Valuable Work, for the Library or the Boudoir, and an Elegant Gift-Book for All Seasons 11? You have ever looked with the feeling of paternity on the first green buds of a plantation of choice trees, dear reader, you can comprehend the pleasure with which we turned over the leavesof this volume - the product of much care and pains-taking. The work is now completed, and fit for a choice cabinet, or fitter still for the occupancy of a centre-table, to be taken up in any mood, and read at any length, or with any degree of abstrae tion. What rich variety in its contents! What more delightful than such a book, every word of which is part of a choice treasure of literature? What better idea was ever started than that of these sands of gold. Sifted from the flood of English literature - a rescue of capital things, wastefully adrift, and. 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.