"Ascertain" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... these histories were first received and believed, the unreasonableness of insisting upon the belief of these accounts will appear aggravated. What was the character of the early Gentile Christians? This we can ascertain from only two sources—the writings of their leaders, and those of their heathen contemporaries. According to the latter they were very weak and credulous. The primitive Christians were perpetually reproached for their gross credulity by all ...
— Letter to the Reverend Mr. Cary • George English
... portion of this large sum can only have been obtained by a loan from the bank and by bons de tresor (exchequer bills). What the proportion between the bank loan and the bons de tresor in circulation is I am unable to ascertain. M. Picard, like all finance ministers, groans daily over the cost of the prolongation of the siege, and it certainly appears a very doubtful question whether France will really benefit by Paris living at ...
— Diary of the Besieged Resident in Paris • Henry Labouchere
... the conversation in the church. There were different conjectures to be made. Mlle. d'Arency may have made that surprising request merely to convince me that she did not love De Noyard, and intending, subsequently, to withdraw it; or it may have sprung from a caprice, a desire to ascertain how far I was at her bidding,—women have, thoughtlessly, set men such tasks from mere vanity, lacking the sympathy to feel how precious to its owner is any human life other than their own;—or she may have had some substantial reason to desire his death, something to ...
— An Enemy To The King • Robert Neilson Stephens
... by his wisdom and upheld by his providence, presume to wish such order troubled for my sake? Nor do I ask of him the power of doing righteousness; why ask for what he has given me? Has he not bestowed on me conscience to love what is good, reason to ascertain it, freedom to choose it? If I do ill, I have no excuse; I do it because I will it. To pray to him to change my will, is to seek from him what he seeks from me; it is to wish no longer to be human, it is to wish something other than what is, it is to wish disorder and evil."[343] We may admire both ...
— Rousseau - Volumes I. and II. • John Morley
... part. In water pressure machines loss does not occur from these causes, on account of the incompressibility of the liquid, but the frictions of the parts are the principal causes of loss of power. It would be advisable to ascertain whether, as regards this point, high or low pressures are the most advantageous. Theoretical considerations would lead the author to imagine that for a piston machine low pressures are preferable. In conclusion, the following table gives the efficiencies of a Girard turbine, constructed by Messrs. ...
— Scientific American Supplement No. 275 • Various
... lying idle for a very long time, I suppose? Eh? You'll excuse the joke. We may lose very heavily in this one, while we gain on others. But, of course, Colonel Pendarve, that is not my affair. My instructions, to be brief, are to ascertain whether you will sell, and, if you will take a reasonable price, to close ...
— Sappers and Miners - The Flood beneath the Sea • George Manville Fenn
... I endeavoured to ascertain from Signor Baravelli, the doctor, something as to the actual state of his patient; but my knowledge of Italian was so slight that I could neither make him understand what I would be at, nor comprehend in turn what he replied, so that this attempt was relinquished. From my brother himself I gathered ...
— The Lost Stradivarius • John Meade Falkner
... which brought us to another sheep station on the same chain of ponds, three miles higher up than Balderudgery. Having directed the party to encamp here, I pursued the road south-westward along the chain of ponds, anxious to ascertain whether I could in that direction pass easily to the westward of Hervey's Range, and so fall into my former line of route to the Bogan. At about five miles I found an excellent opening through which the road passed on ...
— Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia • Thomas Mitchell
... a path to pursue for our present good and future elevation, we have taken into consideration the circumstances of the free colored population, so far as it was possible to ascertain their views and sentiments, hoping that at a future Convention, you will all come ably represented, and that your wishes and views may receive that deliberation and attention for which this ...
— History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880. Vol. 2 (of 2) - Negroes as Slaves, as Soldiers, and as Citizens • George Washington Williams
... had always reason to doubt the accuracy of our informants. We once found a tree in a village, with many pieces of the bark chipped off, closely allied to the Tangena or Tanghina, the ordeal poison tree of Madagascar; but we could not ascertain any particulars about it. Death is inflicted on those found guilty ...
— A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries • David Livingstone
... startled. This was valuable information which she could scarcely have expected to obtain so easily. There was more that she desired to ascertain, but she had no intention ...
— Vane of the Timberlands • Harold Bindloss
... tribunals. Some acts which in the citizen are innocent must in the soldier be crimes. Some acts which in the citizen are punished with fine or imprisonment must in the soldier be punished with death. The machinery by which courts of law ascertain the guilt or innocence of an accused citizen is too slow and too intricate to be applied to an accused soldier. For, of all the maladies incident to the body politic, military insubordination is that which requires the most prompt and drastic remedies. If the evil be not stopped ...
— The History of England from the Accession of James II. - Volume 3 (of 5) • Thomas Babington Macaulay
... knew the cause of the enmity between these rivals, was ignorant of that which occasioned his brother's rash oath, also felt anxious to ascertain the circumstances of the last quarrel. For this purpose, as well as in obedience to his father's wishes, he proceeded to Reillaghan's and arrived just as Darby More and young Mike ...
— The Hedge School; The Midnight Mass; The Donagh • William Carleton
... to this point, more or less cursory attention may be given individual patents; but when an arrangement of subclasses shall have been tentatively adopted it will be necessary to consider each patent carefully to ascertain whether ...
— The Classification of Patents • United States Patent Office
... in exact SURVEY-WORK will best know how to appreciate the enormous amount of labour represented by this valuable book. The computations enable the user to ascertain the sines and cosines for a distance of twelve miles to within half an inch, and this BY REFERENCE TO BUT ONE TABLE, in place of the usual Fifteen minute computations required. This alone is evidence of the assistance ...
— A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. • Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer
... of the large trees we saw the remains of circular seats, whereupon the family used to sit before the former house was burned down. There was no one now in the vicinity of the place, save a man and a yoke of oxen; and what he was about, I did not ascertain. Mr. —— at present resides in a small dwelling, little more than a cottage, beside the main road, not far from the gateway which gives access ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 100, February, 1866 • Various
... lad. We are here to ascertain the precise situation, and it will be some time before that will be cleared up. Certainly for the present there will be nothing for us to do but to keep quiet and see how matters turn out, and to get through the time as best we may. We shall have fine opportunities for shooting and ...
— Among Malay Pirates - And Other Tales Of Adventure And Peril • G. A. Henty
... cultivated men and women in similar circumstances; and that the amount of actual suffering caused by the struggle for existence among animals is altogether insignificant. Let us, therefore, endeavour to ascertain what are the real facts on which these ...
— Darwinism (1889) • Alfred Russel Wallace
... on my own ground. Besides, it offers a larger scope, and is, in that way, more just to my desire. I meant by that title to intimate the fact that, while it is the destiny of Man, in the course of the ages, to ascertain and fulfil the law of his being, so that his life shall be seen, as a whole, to be that of an angel or messenger, the action of prejudices and passions which attend, in the day, the growth of the individual, is continually obstructing the holy work that is to make the earth a part of heaven. ...
— Woman in the Ninteenth Century - and Kindred Papers Relating to the Sphere, Condition - and Duties, of Woman. • Margaret Fuller Ossoli
... or imported from abroad of real value in promoting the healthy life of the nation, how far are they things that are really needed. Books on political economy have sometimes stated that only "value in exchange is to be considered"; "value in use" is still more important. We want to ascertain the things that will really do us good, and devote our energies to the production and importation of such things. The teachings of the physiologist as to food values, the study of hygiene in its widest sense, must form part of political economy in the true sense as well as the laws of ...
— Rebuilding Britain - A Survey Of Problems Of Reconstruction After The World War • Alfred Hopkinson
... according to Luke. Luke, the physician, compiled it in his own name in order, when, after the ascension of Christ, Paul had taken him to be with him like a student of law. Yet neither did he see the Lord in the flesh; and he, too, as he was able to ascertain events, so set them down. So he began his story ...
— A Source Book for Ancient Church History • Joseph Cullen Ayer, Jr., Ph.D.
... and down the corridor, and listened at the doors of the next rooms, to ascertain that ...
— The Son of Monte Cristo • Jules Lermina
... ascertain the detective's address, the baron visited the office of the 'Reveil,' situated on the quai. There he found the writer of the article who, ...
— The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar • Maurice Leblanc
... Althotas. This Althotas was very fond of him, and told him that his father and mother, who were Christians and nobles, died when he was three months old, and left him in the care of the Muphti. He could never, he said, ascertain their names, for whenever he asked Althotas the question, he was told that it would be dangerous for him to know. Some incautious expressions dropped by his preceptor gave him reason to think they were from Malta. At the age of twelve he began his travels, and learned the various ...
— Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions - Vol. I • Charles Mackay
... Italy were threatened, had every reason to grant this request. The only obstacle was the threatening attitude of France. Before sending out his troops, Metternich took pains to ascertain the immediate intentions of France. The official answer given to the inquiries of the Austrian Ambassador in Paris, was that Austrian intervention in favor of the sovereigns of Parma and Modena, who were related to the House of Hapsburg, might be tolerated. An extension of such intervention ...
— A History of the Nineteenth Century, Year by Year - Volume Two (of Three) • Edwin Emerson
... to make up its mind as to how many people we want in the country. If we want less than at present, we must ascertain how many less; and if we allow the reduction to be made by the continued operation of the present sterilization of marriage, we must settle how the process is to be stopped when it has gone far enough. ...
— Getting Married • George Bernard Shaw
... time, the movement exhibited would have [page 11] been much greater, for at the close of our observations the tip, instead of standing vertically upwards, had become bowed downwards through geotropism, so as almost to touch the zinc plate. As far as we could roughly ascertain by measurements made with compasses on other seeds, the tip alone, for a length of only 2/100 to 3/100 of an inch, is acted on by geotropism. But the tracing shows that the basal part of the radicle ...
— The Power of Movement in Plants • Charles Darwin
... own field development followed very similar lines. The immediate need in April, 1915, was for organisations on the front to advise formations on temporary methods of protection, to ascertain quickly the nature of any new German chemical attack, and to provide special means of examining the treatment of the new kind of casualty. These were "breach organisations," so to speak, countering the immediate effects ...
— by Victor LeFebure • J. Walker McSpadden
... peculiar and characteristic position. He maintained that the law condemning women to death for witchcraft was perfectly just, but that it was quite unnecessary to ascertain whether witchcraft was a possibility. A woman might not be able to destroy the life of her neighbor by her incantations; but if she intended to do so, it was right that she should be hung." Rationalism in Europe ...
— The Witchcraft Delusion In Colonial Connecticut (1647-1697) • John M. Taylor
... and as his ambassador, ask his Majesty King Philippe and your Excellency to accept and receive that friendship, as my lord the emperor desires. The letter brought by Gaspar, my vassal, was in order to ascertain whether your Excellency and the other Spaniards were friends or foes, and not, as had been imagined or understood here, that you should become vassals of my lord the emperor, and render him obedience and submission. Having learned the truth, my lord the emperor ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume IX, 1593-1597 • E. H. Blair
... broken, terrified—but nevertheless resolved to put all selfish fears aside and to ascertain the full extent of the tragedy which had been enacted outside her door. She lit the storm-lantern, then, with it in her hand, she went through the tap-room ...
— A Bride of the Plains • Baroness Emmuska Orczy
... already become very dark, and a doubt occurred, both at the first and second turning, as to whether they were right. Wilton and the Messenger had furnished themselves with pistols, besides their swords; and the young gentleman paused for a moment to ascertain that the priming had not fallen out; but nothing would induce the Messenger to do so likewise; for his sullen mood had seized upon him again more strongly than ever, and he merely replied that his pistols would do very well, and that it would be lucky if Mr. Brown were as sure of his ...
— The King's Highway • G. P. R. James
... found utterly impossible to ascertain the amount of capital at any time floating in Great Britain. We can, therefore, only guess from certain commercial symptoms when it is nearly exhausted. On this point the money articles in the London journals have of late contained many significant hints. The settlements on the Stock ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, Number 361, November, 1845. • Various
... that Sir John Hawkins should have related that the application was made by Sir Joshua Reynolds, when he could so easily have been informed of the truth by inquiring of Sir Joshua. Sir John's carelessness to ascertain facts is very ...
— Life Of Johnson, Volume 4 (of 6) • Boswell
... end of it was, that I was proposed for acceptance, and two deacons were deputed, in accordance with the usual custom, to wait upon me and ascertain my fitness for membership. What they said and what I said has now altogether vanished; but I remember with perfect distinctness the day on which I was admitted. It was the custom to demand of each candidate a statement of his or her experience. I had no ...
— The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford • Mark Rutherford
... Consequently, I suspect that E. r. simulans and E. r. ruficaudus are specifically distinct and suggest that a search would be worth while for specimens in the geographic area between the geographic ranges as now known for the two kinds to ascertain whether intergradation (the criterion of subspecies) occurs. I suppose there is no intergradation but in the absence of precise information, I choose not to modify the current taxonomic arrangement of E. r. ...
— The Baculum in the Chipmunks of Western North America • John A. White
... better run down to Herondale, Maria, and ascertain if the erring and desperate girl has returned there," he said, one morning after prayers. "Seeing that she left my roof in so unseemly a fashion, with no word of regret or repentance, I do not consider that she has any further claim ...
— At Love's Cost • Charles Garvice
... to ascertain the facts incident to this supposed infraction, and it is believed that the Government of China will cooperate with the United States in securing the faithful ...
— State of the Union Addresses of Chester A. Arthur • Chester A. Arthur
... men, who really hesitated at nothing, were talking, the hour approached at which the observation was to be made. What Cyrus Harding was to do to ascertain the passage of the sun at the meridian of the island, without an instrument of any sort, ...
— The Mysterious Island • Jules Verne
... the reader who cares to do so to verify every statement made; but some of them no doubt have escaped reference. Many books are cited again and again, and in similar cases the reader's time is frequently wasted in searching for the first mention of a book, so as to ascertain its title and other particulars. To avoid the trouble I have so many times experienced in this way, I have put together in an Appendix a list of the principal authorities made use of, indicating them by the short title by which they are cited in the footnotes, and giving sufficient bibliographical ...
— The Science of Fairy Tales - An Inquiry into Fairy Mythology • Edwin Sidney Hartland
... had any dinner. The Actor's lot is evidently, not always a happy one. He wanted a "feeding-part" and didn't get it. The dinner was excellent, and the waiting of the waiters was, as far as I could ascertain, exceptionally good. Certainly the Metropole, or the New "Holland" House,—as it might be termed, after its manager,—holds first rank for this sort of business. We present Mr. HOLLAND, the Metropole Caterer, with ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 98, February 22nd, 1890 • Various
... absolutely necessary. If you can obtain the planet's declination on the day of observation and ascertain when it is due south, all you have to do is to set the pointer D by the needle point and note whether Venus has passed your meridian or not and set your hour index. There will be no difficulty in picking up Venus even ...
— The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 - 700 Things For Boys To Do • Popular Mechanics
... for Gretchen brought, Them hath a priest now made his own!— A glimpse of them the mother caught, And 'gan with secret fear to groan. The woman's scent is keen enough; Doth ever in the prayer-book snuff; Smells every article to ascertain Whether the thing is holy or profane, And scented in the jewels rare, That there was not much blessing there. "My child," she cries; "ill-gotten good Ensnares the soul, consumes the blood; With them we'll deck our Lady shrine, ...
— The German Classics of The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, • Editor-in-Chief: Kuno Francke
... profit by the use of this library, the habit of reading with some system, and of making brief notes upon the contents of the books they read. If, for instance, you are studying the history of some period, ascertain what works you need to study, and find such parts of them as concern your theme. Do not feel obliged to read the whole of a large treatise, but select such chapters as touch on the subject in hand and omit ...
— How To Study and Teaching How To Study • F. M. McMurry
... written description is quite correct, and as regularly the answer is a convinced affirmative. It is impossible to give any general rule for testing such affirmation. Ordinarily some clearness may be attained by paying attention to the purpose of the manuscript, especially in order to ascertain its sources and the personality of the writer. There is much in the external form of the manuscript. Not that especial care and order in the notes are particularly significant; I once published the accounts of an old peasant who could neither ...
— Robin Hood • J. Walker McSpadden
... Socialists had a cut-and-dried program for the future of civilization; whereas here were two active members of the party, who, from what he could make out, were agreed about nothing at all. Would the two, for his enlightenment, try to ascertain just what they had in common, and why they belonged to the same party? This resulted, after much debating, in the formulating of two carefully worded propositions: First, that a Socialist believes in the common ownership and democratic management of the means of producing the necessities ...
— The Jungle • Upton Sinclair
... ingenious delays, rather than trust it to the candid determination of an honest jury. What else could be the motives of kidnapping the claimant, and transporting him when an infant? of the various attempts made upon his life since his return? of the attempts to divest him of all assistance to ascertain his right, by endeavouring so solicitously to prevail on Mr. M— to abandon him in the beginning? of retaining an army of counsel before any suit had been commenced? of the many sinister attempts to prevent the trial at bar? of the various arts made ...
— The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, Volume I • Tobias Smollett
... comparison: how far those defects have been removed, we may be allowed to say that no little study and examination will be required to the forming of a right judgment. In all of the plays, the chief, and in many of them the only, basis and standard whereby to ascertain the true text, is the folio of 1623. In our preparing of copy we have this continually open before us, at the same time availing ourselves of whatsoever aid is to be drawn from earlier impressions, in case of such ...
— The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 1, April, 1851 • Various
... composer of it, and that, therefore, we could claim the air of "God Save Ireland" as being Irish as well as the words. To place the matter beyond doubt, Gilmore himself being dead, I wrote to his daughter, Mary Sarsfield Gilmore, a distinguished poetical contributor to the "Irish World," to ascertain the facts. I got from her a most interesting reply, in which she said, "I am more than sorry to disappoint you by my answer, but my father was not the composer of the air ...
— The Life Story of an Old Rebel • John Denvir
... to suppose that anybody but an imbecile could be deceived by it. Spare me any more of this elaborate nonsense and once for all tell me whether you refuse to give me an intelligible account of where I am and how I came here. If so, I shall proceed to ascertain my whereabouts ...
— Looking Backward - 2000-1887 • Edward Bellamy
... produced and born under its administration. The professors of astrology appeared as the confidents of these invisible rulers, and the interpreters of their will; they were well versed in the art of giving a respectable appearance to this usurped dignity. Provided they could but ascertain the hour and minute of a person's birth, they confidently took upon themselves to predict his mental capacities, future vicissitudes of life, and the diseases he would be visited with, together with the circumstances, the day and hour of ...
— Thaumaturgia • An Oxonian
... in good health, I shall have made by the Readings, in two years, L33,000: that is to say, L13,000 received from the Chappells, and L20,000 from America. What I had made by them before, I could only ascertain by a long examination of Coutts's books. I should say, certainly not less than L10,000: for I remember that I made half that money in the first town and country campaign with poor Arthur Smith. These figures are of course between ourselves; but ...
— The Life of Charles Dickens, Vol. I-III, Complete • John Forster
... I got out two of the extinguishers which were left in my back hall for use in case of an emergency, and tested one of them on the lawn. I merely wished to ascertain if it would work with spirit, and it did; it went off like a sodawater fountain loaded with dynamite, and I felt truly happy for the ...
— Ghosts I have Met and Some Others • John Kendrick Bangs
... and the most careful nursing, to preserve the lives of the feeblest; but in spite of all his endeavours, this depopulation went on for a twelvemonth longer, with more or less intermission, and without his being able to ascertain the real cause, though the Obeah practice was strongly suspected, as well by himself as by the doctor, and other white persons upon the plantation; as it was known to have been very common in that part of the island, and particularly among the negroes of the ...
— Tales & Novels, Vol. 2 • Maria Edgeworth
... changed for the worse so rapidly that in a single day, during which she floated incessantly between hope and despair, she lost the glow of beauty, and the freshness which has its source in the absence of passion or the ardor of joy. Anxious to ascertain the result of her mad enterprise, Hulot and Corentin came to see her soon after her return. ...
— The Chouans • Honore de Balzac
... rock. But there was a movement upward, and he pulled with all the power he dared use. It came slowly and at length was free. The left one he released with less difficulty. The next few moments he put all his attention on the plank to ascertain if his weight would sink it into the sand. The far end slipped off the willows with a little splash and gradually settled to rest upon the bottom. But it sank no farther, and Duane's greatest concern was relieved. However, as it was manifestly impossible ...
— The Lone Star Ranger • Zane Grey
... human reason imagines it to be the evil, unfriendly, abominable will of the devil, because what reason esteems highest, best and holiest, God's will regards as nothing and worthy of death. Therefore, Christian experience must come to the rescue and decide. It must feel and prove, must test and ascertain, whether one is prompted by a sincere and gracious will. He who perseveres and learns in this way will go forward in his experience, finding God's will so gracious and pleasing he would not exchange it for all the world's wealth. He will discover that acceptance of God's will affords ...
— Epistle Sermons, Vol. II - Epiphany, Easter and Pentecost • Martin Luther
... another shot at the Monarch if they could find him. They knew better than to go into the brush after a bear, but they hunted cautiously about the edges for some time. They were sure that the Monarch was still in there, but they could not ascertain at what point. Jeff went around to windward of the brush patch and set fire to it, and then joined Jess on the leeward side to watch for the reappearance of the Monarch. The wind was blowing fresh up the canyon and the fire ran rapidly through the dry brush, making ...
— Bears I Have Met—and Others • Allen Kelly
... fine moonlight night—we set our nets in a certain part of the strait, and as we felt some difficulty in drawing them up, the lad plunged into the water to ascertain what obstacle we had to contend with, and to set all to rights. I was in my pirogue, leaning over the side, waiting for his return, when all of a sudden I thought I saw, through the silvery beams of the lamp of night, a large spot of blood spreading ...
— Adventures in the Philippine Islands • Paul P. de La Gironiere
... to the office next morning, it suddenly dawned on me what Fawcett meant. How, in truth, was I to ascertain whether the singular provision of Mrs. Drainger's will had or had not been met? Fawcett had not, he said, been present at the death; and even if he had been, there must elapse a considerable time in which Emily would necessarily be alone with her ...
— The Best Short Stories of 1919 - and the Yearbook of the American Short Story • Various
... you please; but for all that I believe I am not mistaken." He opened the door, and I ran straight up to one of the three pianos that stood in the room. I began to play, and he scarcely gave himself time to glance at the letter, so anxious was he to ascertain the truth; so he only read the signature. "Oh!" cried he, embracing me, and crossing himself and making all sorts of grimaces from intense delight. I will write to you another day about his pianos. He then took me to a coffee-house, but ...
— The Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, V.1. • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
... exact shade of the eyes he had described to Mrs. Bonnycastle as yellow, the tone of her voice when at the last she expressed the hope he might judge America correctly. HAD he judged America correctly? If he were to meet her again she doubtless would try to ascertain. It would be going much too far to say that the idea of such an ordeal was terrible to Count Otto; but it may at least be said that the thought of meeting Pandora Day made him nervous. The fact is certainly singular, but I shall not take on myself to explain it; there are some things that even ...
— Pandora • Henry James
... little grass for them, prevented my devoting so much time to the examination of the lake and the country around it, as I should have wished; and I therefore intend, if possible, on my return, to investigate it more fully, being anxious to ascertain, whether, as I suppose, there is a considerable drainage into it from the westward. The high land seen on its opposite side, appears to be a continuation of the table land, lying to the west of the head of Spencer's Gulf; and though the fall of the country appears to be ...
— Journals Of Expeditions Of Discovery Into Central • Edward John Eyre
... called Thridi (the Third).' Har, perceiving the stranger, asked him what his errand was, adding that he should be welcome to eat and drink without cost, as were all those who remained in Hava Hall. Gangler said he desired first to ascertain whether there was any person present renowned ...
— Ten Great Religions - An Essay in Comparative Theology • James Freeman Clarke
... him and taken out his patents before the publication in Engineering. Jimmy showed a prompt decision, a feverish activity. First of all, he must put the law in motion, bring an action against Trampy, telegraph to the patent office at Washington to ascertain the date. Meanwhile, he made his first appearance on the day fixed for it. His success was even greater than Trampy's; his leaps were twice as wide, more in accordance with his courage. The way in which he "bridged the abyss," in the ...
— The Bill-Toppers • Andre Castaigne
... Baker. He's a plebeian from his thick shoe soles to his thin hair; but he's honest. And yet—if he had been less ponderously precise—he might have said: "Why, really, I don't exactly know. Mr. Winship is a well-to-do man. It has been years since I knew, but I can ascertain and—" ...
— The Bacillus of Beauty - A Romance of To-day • Harriet Stark
... the heart. Her heart actually seemed to leap. She consulted several physicians. I recollect that one of them made her walk up and down the room, lift a weight, and move quickly. On her expressing some surprise, he said, "I do this to ascertain whether the organ is diseased; in that case motion quickens the pulsation; if that effect is not produced, the complaint proceeds from the nerves." I repeated this to my oracle, Quesnay. He knew very little of this physician, but he said his treatment was that of a clever man. His name was ...
— Memoirs And Historical Chronicles Of The Courts Of Europe - Marguerite de Valois, Madame de Pompadour, and Catherine de Medici • Various
... intention of repeating to Lily what she had heard, or even of trying to ascertain its truth by means of discreet interrogation. To do so might be to provoke a scene; and a scene, in the shaken state of Mrs. Peniston's nerves, with the effects of her dinner not worn off, and her mind still ...
— House of Mirth • Edith Wharton
... synthesis. Two steps are necessary to ascertain the exact composition of water by synthesis: (1) to show by qualitative synthesis that water is formed by the union of oxygen with hydrogen; (2) to determine by quantitative synthesis in what proportion the two elements unite to ...
— An Elementary Study of Chemistry • William McPherson
... did the next morning on getting up was to hurry out to ascertain if Mr Tidey and the negro had arrived, and was much disappointed to find that the waggon had not come back. Breakfast was over, and still it did not appear. My mother suggested that possibly the black was too weak to be removed. ...
— With Axe and Rifle • W.H.G. Kingston
... earlier, a preliminary test (or 'Responsions') was instituted to ascertain the fitness of those who wanted to take part in the public performance. At these 'Responsions' which took place in the December before the Lent in which the candidate was to determine, he had to dispute in Grammar ...
— On The Art of Reading • Arthur Quiller-Couch
... 1901 a Committee appointed by the British Home Office, "to advise as to the conditions of safety to which acetylene generators should conform, and to carry out tests of generators in the market in order to ascertain how far those conform with such conditions," issued a circular to the trade suggesting that apparatus should be sent them for examination. In response, forty-six British generators were submitted for trial, and were examined in a fashion which somewhat exceeded the instructions ...
— Acetylene, The Principles Of Its Generation And Use • F. H. Leeds and W. J. Atkinson Butterfield
... completely through in some places, while in others it was so deeply charred that my feet broke through upon encountering them. I persevered, however, for near the middle of the room I perceived a mound of ashes of exceedingly suggestive shape and dimensions, and I was anxious to ascertain what lay beneath. And, combating the almost invincible repugnance to close investigation which seized me, I presently discovered that the heap concealed, as I had suspected, a half-consumed human body, so dreadfully disfigured that it was only ...
— Through Veld and Forest - An African Story • Harry Collingwood
... friends agreed with me that, unless I could have a very good prospect of carrying a grand measure about corn, I had better decline the Queen's Commission. So we are to have all the old Cabinet men here on Tuesday, and try to ascertain whether we are agreed on a measure, and whether Sir Robert Peel would support such a measure as we should propose. On Wednesday evening, or Thursday, I hope the matter will be cleared up, and if you ask me what I think, ...
— Lady John Russell • Desmond MacCarthy and Agatha Russell
... It was possible that the stealthy prowler of the night before had done them injury, but, so far as he could ascertain, nothing of the kind had occurred. Except for what he had seen and heard during the darkness, he would not have known that a visitor had been ...
— A Waif of the Mountains • Edward S. Ellis
... he proceeded it may be well to explain, in order that the young pupil may see what sort of evidences we have prior to the Olympiads for any chronological fact. Sir Isaac endeavoured by calculating backwards to ascertain the exact time of some celestial phenomenon—as, suppose, an eclipse of the sun, or such and such positions of the heavenly bodies with regard to each other. This phenomenon, whatever it were, call X. Then if (upon looking into ...
— The Posthumous Works of Thomas De Quincey, Vol. II (2 vols) • Thomas De Quincey
... general clause, however, of an instruction to the governor, your Majesty ordains that the governor may send to Japon, Macan, or other pagan countries, also to ports of the heathen and of the Portuguese in order to ascertain if they would like trade with us. But China is not mentioned by name in said clause; and the law of justice is that what is not conceded in particular is not understood to be granted in a general statement. The point under discussion was not only not particularly conceded by your Majesty, but had ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume X, 1597-1599 • E. H. Blair
... facing it; and just at the moment that he felt his strength giving way and could see a grin of triumph on the fiendish face, there carne a flash and a report, and his adversary fell at his feet. Glancing up to ascertain who had fired the shot that had saved his life, he thought he saw a figure disappearing from one of the windows. The incident acted as an inspiration. Gathering together a few men, he reached the ...
— Jane Cable • George Barr McCutcheon
... napoleons, he had but a word to say; and he said it often. Thus, after a while, he became an excellent billiard-player; he kept his colored meerschaum in the rack of a popular brewery; he took absinthe before dinner, and spent his evenings in the laudable effort to ascertain how many mugs of beer he could "put away." Gaining in audacity, he danced at Bullier's, dined at Foyd's, and at last had ...
— Other People's Money • Emile Gaboriau
... superstitions of all peoples, so as to exhaust the immense field of modern ethnography. Nor is it enough to consider the various normal and abnormal conditions of psychical phenomena, nor to undertake the comparative study of languages, to ascertain how far their speech will reveal the primitive beliefs of various races, and the obscure metaphorical sayings which gave birth to many myths. It is also necessary to subject to careful examination the simplest elementary acts of the mind, in their physical and psychical ...
— Myth and Science - An Essay • Tito Vignoli
... and by directing the stream, AB, Fig. 3, vertically into a tube 3/8 in. internal diameter and bent so as to turn the jet horizontally, and placing the whole arrangement upon a compound weighing machine, it is easy to ascertain the downward pressure, AB, due to impact, and the horizontal pressures, CB, due to reaction. In theoretical investigations it may be convenient to assume both these pressures exactly equal, and this has been done ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 460, October 25, 1884 • Various
... everyday life, and equally curious to what strange and mysterious uses some of our readers seem to apply them. What, for example, can be the object of Mr. Wm. Oxley, who writes to me all the way from Iowa, in wishing to ascertain the dimensions of a field that he proposes to enclose, containing just as many acres as there shall ...
— Amusements in Mathematics • Henry Ernest Dudeney
... mean sech things, Doctor; I mean fevers. Is there any ketchin' fevers—bilious, or nervous, or typus, or whatever you call 'em—now goin' round this village? That's what I want to ascertain, if ...
— Elsie Venner • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
... arid, barren, naked plains of the north, with not a shrub to shelter him from the heat, not a stick to burn for his fire (except what he carried with him), the native is found, and where, as far as I could ascertain, the whole country around appeared equally devoid of either animal or vegetable life. In other cases, the very regions, which, in the eyes of the European, are most barren and worthless, are to the native the most valuable and productive. Such are dense brushes, or sandy ...
— Journals Of Expeditions Of Discovery Into Central • Edward John Eyre
... and "Disgusted" would say, "also ran") our backer is not abashed. Taking full advantage of his credit he places his twenty thousand on Likely Case, together perhaps with the odd thousand or so in his pocket, being careful, however, to ascertain that his return ticket is ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 159, December 1, 1920 • Various
... passed. We exchanged compliments and clubs in a sham-battle that was immensely diverting; we returned the missiles they threw at us as long as the ammunition held out, but captured none of the enemy, nor did the slightest damage—as far as we could ascertain. ...
— In the Footprints of the Padres • Charles Warren Stoddard
... financiering capacity of this or that individual, not any special masterly measures, etc., but the stern will of the people to succeed, provides funds and means, prevents bankruptcy, etc. The men who give money send an agent here to ascertain how many traitors are still kept in offices, and what are the prospects of energetic action by ...
— Diary from March 4, 1861, to November 12, 1862 • Adam Gurowski
... were very plain and concise. I was directed, on my arrival in Africa, "to pass on to the river Niger, either by the way of Bambouk, or by such other route as should be found most convenient: That I should ascertain the course, and, if possible, the rise and termination of that river. That I should use my utmost exertions to visit the principal towns, or cities in its neighbourhood, particularly Tombuctoo and Houssa; and that I should ...
— Life and Travels of Mungo Park in Central Africa • Mungo Park
... in their opinion, the signature was or was not genuine. Mr. Sidney did not arrive till the moment the case was about to be given to the jury, and I had no opportunity of conversing with him, except to ascertain that in his judgment the signature ...
— Stories by American Authors, Volume 2 • Various
... have instantaneous kodaks mounted on tripods, which show the position of any carriage at half- and quarter-second intervals, by which it is easy to ascertain the exact speed, should the officers be unable to judge it by the eye; so there is no danger of a vehicle's speed exceeding that allowed in the section in which it happens to be; neither can a slow one remain on the ...
— A Journey in Other Worlds - A Romance of the Future • John Jacob Astor
... where the Junction was, a little hamlet about seven miles from Winthrop. How far it was distant from the place where he then was, however, he had no idea. It was easy to ascertain, and in response to his question the farmer explained that it was ...
— Winning His "W" - A Story of Freshman Year at College • Everett Titsworth Tomlinson
... chains and straw of a dungeon in the Pacha's palace. But, as I pursued my path with sauntering steps, I heard the sound of a lute, accompanied by one of the sweetest voices that ever beguiled a Peri, and turning to ascertain the cause of the music, I caught a glimpse of the loveliest woman in Aleppo; but I forgot, in the fervour of the moment, that my feet were treading on hallowed and forbidden ground—the gardens and seraglio of the Pacha!—and if my beautiful visitant ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Vol. XVII. No. 473., Saturday, January 29, 1831 • Various
... professed to have been sent in a parcel to him to be posted from the office. If it had been so, Edward and Lucy would certainly have written to us at the same time. I could have shown, too, that Maddox had written to me the day before to ascertain where Edward was, so as to be sure of the date. It was a little country village, and I made a blunder in copying the spelling from Lucy's writing. Ailie found that very blunder repeated in Dr. Long's letter, and we showed ...
— The Clever Woman of the Family • Charlotte M. Yonge
... truth itself. That life transacts itself in a purely logical or epistemological, as distinguished from a psychological, dimension, and its claims antedate and exceed all personal motivations whatsoever. Tho neither man nor God should ever ascertain truth, the word would still have to be defined as that which OUGHT ...
— Pragmatism - A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking • William James
... to ascertain the effect of substances previously comminuted. He caused a certain quantity of carrots to be reduced to a kind of mash, with which he fed two sheep, and opened them immediately afterwards. He found the greatest ...
— Delineations of the Ox Tribe • George Vasey
... under the forms and idols of a sacerdotal fancy; a new meaning had been given to the words: 'God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.' The reason of man was at last able to study the scheme of the universe, of which he is a part, and to ascertain the actual laws by which it is governed. Three centuries and a half have elapsed since Copernicus revolutionized astronomy. It is only by reflecting on the mass of knowledge we have since acquired, knowledge not only infinitely curious but also incalculably useful in its application to the arts ...
— Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1 (of 7) • John Addington Symonds
... were all sitting in the great drawing-room at the "United States." We had been bowling in our morning dresses, and had rushed in to ascertain if the distinguished English party had arrived. They had not. They were in New York, and would not come. That was bad, but we thought of Newport and probable scions of nobility there, and were consoled. But while we were in the midst of the talk, and I ...
— The Potiphar Papers • George William Curtis
... behalf of this sister, I found her one day, on returning home, at my house, when she told me, that she wished to see me alone. She then said to me, that from the time she had last conversed with me, she had sought to ascertain the Lord's will with reference to the 500l., and had examined the Scriptures, and prayed about it, and that she was now assured that it was the will of the Lord, she should give up this money. After she had told me this, I exhorted her, well to count ...
— A Narrative of some of the Lord's Dealings with George Mueller - Written by Himself, Third Part • George Mueller
... Viereck, you were merely prophesying from those cards. I know, ladies, that you were only telling your fortunes from the cards. I am quite sure, Frau von Viereck, that you were merely endeavoring to ascertain whether you would bury your fifth husband also. Surely—or—is it possible? Money on the tables! [He clasps his hands in horror.] You—have-been-playing?—at my court?—playing-cards? [There is a knock at the door to the left.] ...
— The German Classics of The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Vol. VII. • Various
... was far from suspecting that the deception practiced upon him had been arranged by the man whom he wanted to rob. While there seemed little inducement for him to stay in Milford, he was determined to seek the bookkeeper, and ascertain whether, as he suspected, his confederate had in his possession the bonds which he had been scheming for. If so, he would compel him by threats to disgorge the larger portion, and ...
— Driven From Home - Carl Crawford's Experience • Horatio Alger
... the marriage settlement as by law established. So here am I, travelling from Syria to Irak, and I have passed twenty days with out seeing other than thyself; yet I mean to go to Baghdad that I may ascertain what merchant men of wealth and importance start thence. Then will I fare forth in their track and loot their goods, and I will slay their escort and drive off their camels with their loads. But what ...
— The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 3 • Richard F. Burton
... apparently as far as ever from knowing what it was which the family had concealed with such elaborate precautions. It is true that I had thrown a light upon the fate of Brunton, but now I had to ascertain how that fate had come upon him, and what part had been played in the matter by the woman who had disappeared. I sat down upon a keg in the corner and thought ...
— Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
... I thank you, monsieur," she answered, with a sigh. "I must ask you kindly to ascertain for me also ...
— Charlotte's Inheritance • M. E. Braddon
... throws out those by whom it is practised, as well as those who art meant to be its victims. When Jacopo parted from Don Camillo, it was with an understanding that he should adopt all the means that his native sagacity or his experience might suggest, to ascertain in what manner the council intended to dispose of the person of Donna Yioletta. They had separated on the Lido, and as none knew of their interview but him, and none would probably suspect their recent alliance, the Bravo entered ...
— The Bravo • J. Fenimore Cooper
... species stand in the same relation to each other as the mimicking butterflies of various families do to the Heliconidae and Danaidae. It would be very interesting to experiment on all white moths, to ascertain if those which are most common are generally rejected by birds. It may be anticipated that they would be so, because white is the most conspicuous of all colours for nocturnal insects, and had they not some other protection would certainly be very ...
— Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection - A Series of Essays • Alfred Russel Wallace
... and out-buildings were perfect in their kind. There was a profusion of trees set out on the grounds. The whole was built and established literally 'regardless of expense,' for I had no desire even to ascertain the entire cost." ...
— A Unique Story of a Marvellous Career. Life of Hon. Phineas T. • Joel Benton
... instantaneously arise from interviews apparently the most trivial, giving an unforeseen phase to every relation. A misty uncertainty hovers round every meeting, through whose clouds it is difficult to seize the contours, to fix the lines, to ascertain the present and future influence, thus rendering intercourse vague and unintelligible, filling it with an indefinable and hidden terror, yet, at the same time, with an insinuating flattery. The strong currents of genuine sympathy ...
— Life of Chopin • Franz Liszt
... place in carrying the sentence into execution, Commodore Pasley, Mr. Graham, and others, were indefatigable in their inquiries and exertions to ascertain what progress had been made in bringing to a happy issue the recommendation to the fountain of mercy: not less so was Nessy Heywood: from Mr. Graham she learnt what this excellent man considered to be the principal parts of the evidence that led to the ...
— The Eventful History Of The Mutiny And Piratical Seizure - Of H.M.S. Bounty: Its Cause And Consequences • Sir John Barrow
... officer on the watch before Mr. Maudet, found by his reckoning, that we were very near the reef; he was not listened to, though he did his utmost, at least to ascertain our situation by sounding. We have mentioned the names of Messrs. Laperere and Maudet, because if they had been attended to, the Medusa ...
— Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal in 1816 • J. B. Henry Savigny and Alexander Correard
... the motives that induced Lord Thurlow to break off so suddenly his negotiation with the Prince's party, and declare himself with such vehemence on the side of the King and Mr. Pitt, it does not appear very easy to ascertain. Possibly, from his opportunities of visiting the Royal Patient, he had been led to conceive sufficient hopes of recovery, to incline the balance of his speculation that way; or, perhaps, in the influence of Lord Loughborough [Footnote: Lord Loughborough ...
— Memoirs of the Life of Rt. Hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan Vol 2 • Thomas Moore
... minutes later and Malchus was on his way back to the club. On his arrival there he found that the sitting of the inner council was not yet finished. The building was thronged with the adherents of the party waiting to ascertain what course was determined upon. He presently came across Adherbal and Giscon. The former, as usual, was gay, light hearted, and disposed to view matters in a humorous light; ...
— The Young Carthaginian - A Story of The Times of Hannibal • G.A. Henty
... his pride to think that he should have such a shabby relation, and he resolved to ascertain by inquiry from his mother whether there were any grounds ...
— The Tin Box - and What it Contained • Horatio Alger
... you will also take steps to ascertain whether or not Noureddin Ali Bey is a person worthy of confidence.' Aha! That is excellent! So Mustapha Kemal ...
— Jimgrim and Allah's Peace • Talbot Mundy
... it be well for me, entertaining such sentiments, to sit down and write an account of my sacrifices? I think not. Therefore please hold me excused. I am anxious to see thy book, and will forward the price of one as soon as I can ascertain what it is. ...
— The Underground Railroad • William Still
... of primal story Of Eden's happy pair, A woman's greatest glory Is her glossy flowing hair; It is a safe criterion By which to judge her life, To ascertain, if duly won, ...
— Our Profession and Other Poems • Jared Barhite
... so that she might be cheated as little as possible, she said. The truth, however, was that she wished to make Gavard speak out. In the pork shop he was always distrustful, but at his stall he chatted and talked with the utmost freedom. Now, Lisa had made up her mind to ascertain from him exactly what took place in the little room at Monsieur Lebigre's; for she had no great confidence in her secret police office, Mademoiselle Saget. In a short time she learnt from the incorrigible chatterbox a lot of vague details which very much alarmed her. Two days after ...
— The Fat and the Thin • Emile Zola
... earth-covered lodge is considered the characteristic one of California; and probably two-thirds of its immense aboriginal population lived in dwellings of this description. The doorway is sometimes directly on top, sometimes on the ground, at one side. I have never been able to ascertain whether the amount of rain-fall of any given locality had any influence in determining the place of the door." [Footnote: ...
— Houses and House-Life of the American Aborigines • Lewis H. Morgan
... penalties, ranging from various forms of social ostracism to long sentences of penal servitude, which would be seen to be monstrously disproportionate to the real feeling against them if the removal of both the penalties and the taboo on their discussion made it possible for us to ascertain their real prevalence and estimation. Fortunately there is one outlet for the truth. We are permitted to discuss in jest what we may not discuss in earnest. A serious comedy about sex is taboo: a ...
— Overruled • George Bernard Shaw
... DETERMINING MOVEMENT OF A BOMB.—Lieut. Scott, U. S. A., of the Coast Survey Artillery, suggested a method for determining these questions. It was necessary to ascertain, first, the altitude and speed. While the barometer is used to determine altitudes, it is obvious that speed is a matter much more difficult to ascertain, owing to the wind movements, which in all cases make it difficult for a flier to determine, even with instruments ...
— Aeroplanes • J. S. Zerbe***
... accepted the words of Scripture, have anticipated that it should be so? For, if man be rightly called dead, should not that condition have affected his experience, and ought not a discovery of that fact to be the issue of his labours to ascertain his true relation to the universe? Why does it seem a thing incredible to us that man should be really, actually dead: dead in such a sense as truly to affect his being, and determine his whole state? Why have we been using words which ...
— The Recreations of A Country Parson • A. K. H. Boyd
... Middlemas, who, at the sound of the music from the adjoining apartment, had naturally approached nearer to the door, and surprised and startled by the sort of clamour, hasty steps, and confused voices which ensued, had remained standing there, endeavouring to ascertain the cause ...
— The Surgeon's Daughter • Sir Walter Scott
... Being widely known as specialists, devoting our undivided attention to chronic affections, and having unusual facilities for the investigation and management of such cases, we have been applied to in innumerable instances, to ascertain the causes of barrenness and ...
— The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English • R. V. Pierce
... mountains, and faith is all there is to "Christian Science," so far as we have been able to ascertain. We concede to its many devotees an almost unlimited amount of this saving grace; but sincerely claim that our "Columba science" will be equally efficient for good if received in the same spirit which has greeted the new gospel ...
— The Gentleman from Everywhere • James Henry Foss
... order, while I watched the strange things in the field of the television disk, trying to ascertain their nature. They were not solid bodies, for even as I viewed them, one was superimposed upon another, and I could see the second quite distinctly through the substance of the first. Nor were they rigid, for now and again one of the crescent ...
— Vampires of Space • Sewell Peaslee Wright
... considered adequate authority, and his argumentation, formidable as it always was, recalled, even when most unanswerable at the moment, the application of pure mathematics without allowance for the actual forces, often difficult to ascertain except by experiment, which would have to be ...
— The Oxford Movement - Twelve Years, 1833-1845 • R.W. Church
... dry, and faint at first, then brisker—the unmistakable trade-wind. They boxed the brig about and braced sharp on the starboard tack, steering again by the feel of the wind and the rattling of shaking leeches aloft. The removal of bandages to ascertain the sun's position by sense of light or increase of pain brought agonized howls from the experimenters, and this deterred the rest. Not even by its warmth could they locate it. It was overhead at noon and useless as a guide. In the early morning and late afternoon, when ...
— "Where Angels Fear to Tread" and Other Stories of the Sea • Morgan Robertson
... whether the idiot can be elevated to the standard of mediocrity, physically and intellectually, is not merely one of interest to the psychologist, who seeks to ascertain the metes and bounds of the mental capacity of the race; it is also of paramount importance to the political economist, who wishes to determine the productive force of the community, physical and intellectual; it is of ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 4, February, 1858 • Various
... sieve, and make a very thin white roux; for turtle soup must not be much thickened. When the flour is sufficiently done on a slow fire, and has a good colour, moisten it with the liquor, keeping it over the fire till it boils. Ascertain that the sauce is neither too thick nor too thin; then draw the stewpan on the side of the stove, to skim off the white scum, and all the fat and oil that rise to the surface of the sauce. By this time all the softer parts will ...
— The Book of Household Management • Mrs. Isabella Beeton
... spoke, His spirit opened itself to the Father, that He might speak by His lips; before He acted. He stilled the promptings of His own wisdom, and lifted Himself into the presence of the Father, to ascertain what He was doing, and to receive the inflow of His energy (John v. 19; ...
— Love to the Uttermost - Expositions of John XIII.-XXI. • F. B. Meyer
... to the commissary with my luggage and orders to ascertain when we were expected to march. He soon returned with the intelligence that our corps was not to move before noon, so that I had yet some hours to spare and make my adieux ...
— Charles O'Malley, The Irish Dragoon, Volume 1 (of 2) • Charles Lever
... conclusion that, because they might believe the prisoner had in fact committed the act, he must necessarily be guilty. And they were told that the act was in that case only one element of the crime, and that they must ascertain whether there was the guilty intent or no. Now this old Mr. Justice Common Sense, I thought, was very well worth listening to, and I heartily wished Mr. Justice Technical from the Old Court had been there to take a lesson; and I take the liberty of setting down what I heard in my dream ...
— The Humourous Story of Farmer Bumpkin's Lawsuit • Richard Harris
... arrival at Batavia, you are to go on shore and ascertain Mr. ——'s residence, and, if you have reason to believe that he is still considered at that place as a man of good credit, and merits full confidence, you are to deliver to him my Liverpool consignees' letters to his address, and also the goods which you have on board, ...
— Great Fortunes, and How They Were Made • James D. McCabe, Jr.
... acknowledged principle, it is clearly impolitic to interfere; nor can we avoid the painful conviction, that this first measure, though comparatively light and generally unimportant, was put out by way of feeler, in order to test the temper of the Scottish people—to ascertain whether eighteen years of prosperity might not have made them a little more supple and pliable, and whether they were likely to oppose to innovation the same amount of obstinate resistance as before. It is dangerous to permit the smallest rent to be made in a wall, for, with dexterous ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 56, Number 350, December 1844 • Various
... of the mass was the postmaster and his clerk, Henry Bott, doing what they could to straighten matters out and ascertain ...
— The Young Bridge-Tender - or, Ralph Nelson's Upward Struggle • Arthur M. Winfield
... on an assembled multitude the following circumstance deserves to be weighed, in order to ascertain the whole amount of its importance. In ordinary intercourse men exhibit only the outward man to each other. They are withheld by mistrust or indifference from allowing others to look into what passes within them; and to ...
— Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature • August Wilhelm Schlegel
... the crown of martyrdom must have appeared to him as an object of desire rather than of terror. It is not easy to extract any distinct ideas from the vague though eloquent declamations of the Fathers, or to ascertain the degree of immortal glory and happiness which they confidently promised to those who were so fortunate as to shed their blood in the cause of religion. They inculcated with becoming diligence, that the fire of martyrdom supplied every defect and expiated every sin; that ...
— The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Volume 2 • Edward Gibbon
... the pretty house, to which he had retreated from the hurry and bustle of the great city, but before doing so, he had taken care to ascertain that the inhabitants of the adjoining villa were likely to prove agreeable neighbours; and this he had done to his entire satisfaction, as Mr. and Mrs. Maitland, with their two sweet little children, gave ...
— Aunt Mary • Mrs. Perring
... that when day at last dawned he would be able to guess by the sun where the east lay, and then, as an old sailor, could ascertain his position. If he had come across a hole in the ice, the current of the water would have shown him in what direction to go; but the surface was entirely covered, and without an ax it was impossible to make ...
— Timar's Two Worlds • Mr Jkai
... Bower, and an effort Tom made to ascertain if the man was a spy in the employ of Gale and Ware came to naught. The machinist had come well recommended, and the firm where he was last employed had nothing but good to say ...
— Tom Swift and his Air Scout - or, Uncle Sam's Mastery of the Sky • Victor Appleton
... repair to M. de Canaples's lodging in the Rue des Gesvres, and ascertain discreetly whether he be at home. If he is, you will watch the house until he comes forth, then follow him, and bring me word thereafter where he is to be found. Should he be already abroad before you reach the Rue des Gesvres, endeavour to ascertain whither he has gone, and return forthwith. ...
— The Suitors of Yvonne • Raphael Sabatini
... the judges in his brother's cause. I and my ward will bring our proofs before him, and the company here present; in the course of them, it will appear that he is the best qualified of any to judge of them, because he can ascertain many of the facts we shall have occasion to mention. I will rest our ...
— The Old English Baron • Clara Reeve
... consisting of cavalry, infantry, and artillery, at Cedarville, twelve miles from Winchester; but as the accounts of officers present, and of reliable scouts, were contradictory, and as it did not appear that he had taken the precautions necessary to enable him to ascertain the strength and character of the enemy, the report of Lieutenant-Colonel Moss was discredited. Nevertheless, on Friday night, the pickets around Winchester were doubled, and strong cavalry patrols were kept out on all ...
— The Continental Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 5, November, 1863 • Various
... correctness in applying the Monroe Doctrine and the binding force of the doctrine itself. Arbitration was declined, and Cleveland, in submitting the correspondence to Congress, urged that an American court be created to ascertain the true boundary and that the United States afterward maintain it. "In making these recommendations," he admitted, "I am fully alive to the responsibility incurred and keenly realize all the ...
— The New Nation • Frederic L. Paxson
... young happiness. In this matter, Arthur, I must not even think of you, though I love you well. I must consider only my child's welfare;—and in doing so I must try to sift my own feelings and my own judgment, and ascertain, if it be possible, whether my distaste to the man is reasonable or irrational;—whether I should serve her or sacrifice her by obstinacy of refusal. I can speak to you more plainly than to her. ...
— The Prime Minister • Anthony Trollope
... foreign countries sometimes combine propaganda and espionage, frequently using the propaganda organizations as the bases for espionage. In the United States, so far as I have been able to ascertain, agents of the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo axis are just beginning to cooperate. In the Central and South American countries, however, the axis has apparently agreed to a division of labor, each of the fascist powers assuming a ...
— Secret Armies - The New Technique of Nazi Warfare • John L. Spivak
... night, and was going on well the next day. It must be a work of time to ascertain that no injury had been done to the spine; but Mr Robinson found nothing to increase alarm, and Charles Musgrove began, consequently, to feel no necessity for longer confinement. The child was to be kept in bed and amused as quietly as possible; ...
— Persuasion • Jane Austen
... will perhaps come upon it by chance, and will dig it out, in the vain hope that earlier plunderers have left some of the antiquities undisturbed. It recently happened that an entire family was asphyxiated while attempting to penetrate into a newly discovered tunnel, each member entering to ascertain the fate of the previous explorer, and each being overcome by the gases. On one occasion I was asked by a native to accompany him down a tunnel, the entrance of which was in his stable, in order to view a sarcophagus which lay at the bottom. We each took a candle, and, crouching down ...
— The Treasury of Ancient Egypt - Miscellaneous Chapters on Ancient Egyptian History and Archaeology • Arthur E. P. B. Weigall
... yet declare himself. He said that the affair might well be allowed to sleep for four-and-twenty hours, in order that they might ascertain if the Spaniards approved the choice of their King. He dismissed the council, but ordered it to meet again the next evening at the same hour and place. Next day, several couriers arrived from Spain, ...
— The Memoirs of Louis XIV., His Court and The Regency, Complete • Duc de Saint-Simon
... Bond's assent to his proposition. He was not accustomed to being met like that. His father's loyal policy had been to protect his household from infidel talk, and he had not taken too much pains to ascertain his son's point of view, and if possible, to lead him from it into light. Hubert had found some Christian people ready to argue with him who would admit no position he held, however logical, believing that every arrow from the sceptic's ...
— The First Soprano • Mary Hitchcock
... exercised no voluntary control over the board, absolutely certain the words were not emanations of my own mind, and impelled by curiosity, I determined to try the effect of a few test questions, and, ridiculous as it may appear, ascertain from the instrument itself something of ...
— The Galaxy, Volume 23, No. 2, February, 1877 • Various
... pay our respects to the commandant," said Jack. "It would be a breach of etiquette if we didn't. Also, I want to ascertain the best place to anchor for the ...
— The Boy Allies with the Victorious Fleets - The Fall of the German Navy • Robert L. Drake
... the main column the six thousand horsemen, the seven hundred and fifty transport-waggons, the two thousand natives, and twelve thousand cattle formed a line extending more than twenty-four miles. The scouts, who were despatched westward from the column to ascertain the whereabouts of the enemy, reported large forces of British cavalry sixty and seventy miles distant, but for some inexplicable reason the British made no attempt to cut off the retreat of the three generals, and on March 28th they reached Kroonstad, having traversed ...
— With the Boer Forces • Howard C. Hillegas
... cultures, the standard for the value of the victor would still be a very relative one, and, in any case, would certainly not justify such exaggerated triumph or self-glorification. For, in the first place, it would be necessary to ascertain the worth of the conquered culture. This might be very little; in which case, even if the victory had involved the most glorious display of arms, it would still offer no ...
— Thoughts out of Season (Part One) • Friedrich Nietzsche
... of this species there seems to be some uncertainty. Jerdon himself was doubtful whether the shou was not C. Wallichii, and the Kashmir stag C. Cashmirianus. He says: "It is a point reserved for future travellers and sportsmen to ascertain the limits of C. Wallichii east and C. affinis west, for, as Dr. Sclater remarks, it would be contrary to all analogy to find two species of the same type inhabiting ...
— Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon • Robert A. Sterndale
... the Superintendent, shall be the chief executive officer of the Asylum; he shall have the general superintendence of the buildings, grounds, and property, subject to the laws and regulations of the Trustees; he shall have the sole control and management of the patients; he shall ascertain their condition, daily prescribe their treatment, and adopt such sanitary measures as he may think best; he shall appoint, with the approval of the Trustees, so many attendants and assistants as he ...
— Rules and Regulations of the Insane Asylum of California - Prescribed by the Resident Physician, August 1, 1861 • Stockton State Hospital
... remember too, that in Virgil's poem, almost the first light in which the Pious AEneas appears to us, is a deer-stealer; nor is it much excuse for him, that the deer were wandering without keepers; for however he might, from this circumstance, have been unable to ascertain whose property they were; he might, I think, have been pretty well assured that they ...
— Parodies of Ballad Criticism (1711-1787) • William Wagstaffe
... lower jaw. His left eyelid was involuntarily closed and he had no power to overcome his ptosis. Upon the head, well covered by the hair, was a large unequal depression and elevation. In order to ascertain how far it might be possible for a bar of the size causing the injury to traverse the skull in the track assigned to it, Bigelow procured a common skull in which the zygomatic arches were barely visible from above, and having entered a drill near the left angle of the inferior maxilla, ...
— Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine • George M. Gould
... were hurrying as fast as they could to that part of the town where St. Giles' Church was situated. The church was a landmark, and it was easy to find it; and not very difficult, either, to ascertain where Mr. Phillips, the hardworked curate, resided. Bet, who could read well, had decided that they would apply to the curate, not ...
— A Girl of the People • L. T. Meade
... in Prigord which some local writers have accepted as fact, that the Montaigne family was of English origin. It is not easy to ascertain the ground on which it rests. The patronymic was Eyquem, and the chevalier-seigneur, who settled in Prigord and took the territorial title of Montagne or ...
— Two Summers in Guyenne • Edward Harrison Barker |
