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The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Book of Golden Deeds, by Charlotte M.Yonge#41 in our series by Charlotte M. YongeCopyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check thecopyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributingthis or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this ProjectGutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit theheader without written permission.Please read the "legal small print," and other information about theeBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included isimportant information about your specific rights and restrictions inhow the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make adonation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts****eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971*******These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****Title: A Book of Golden DeedsAuthor: Charlotte M. YongeRelease Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6489][Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule][This file was first posted on December 22, 2002]Edition: 10Language: EnglishCharacter set encoding: ASCII, with a few ISO-8859-1 characters*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BOOK OF GOLDEN DEEDS ***This Project Gutenberg Etext of 'A Book of Golden Deeds'by Charlotte M Yonge was prepared by HanhVu capriccio_vn@yahoo.comand Sandra Laythorpe menorot@menorot.com.

A BOOK OF GOLDEN DEEDS

CHARLOTTE M YONGE

CONTENTS

What is a Golden Deed?The Stories of Alcestis and AntigoneThe Cup of WaterHow one Man has saved a HostThe Pass of ThermopylaeThe Rock of the CapitolThe Two Friends of SyracuseThe Devotion of the DeciiRegulusThe brave Brethren of JudahThe Chief of the ArverniWithstanding the Monarch in his WrathThe last Fight in the ColiseumThe Shepherd Girl of NanterreLeo the SlaveThe Battle of the BlackwaterGuzman el BuenoFaithful till DeathWhat is better than Slaying a DragonThe Keys of CalaisThe Battle of SempachThe Constant PrinceThe Carnival of PerthThe Crown of St. StephenGeorge the TrillerSir Thomas More's DaughterUnder Ivan the TerribleFort St. ElmoThe Voluntary ConvictThe Housewives of LowenburgFathers and SonsThe Soldiers in the SnowGunpowder PerilsHeroes of the PlagueThe Second of SeptemberThe Vendeans

PREFACE

As the most striking lines of poetry are the most hackneyed, becausethey have grown to be the common inheritance of all the world, so manyof the most noble deeds that earth can show have become the best known,and enjoyed their full meed of fame. Therefore it may be feared thatmany of the events here detailed, or alluded to, may seem trite tothose in search of novelty; but it is not for such that the collectionhas been made. It is rather intended as a treasury for young people,

where they may find minuter particulars than their abridged historiesusually afford of the soul-stirring deeds that give life and glory tothe record of events; and where also other like actions, out of theirordinary course of reading, may be placed before them, in the trustthat example may inspire the spirit of heroism and self-devotion. Forsurely it must be a wholesome contemplation to look on actions, thevery essence of which is such entire absorption in others that self isforgotten; the object of which is not to win promotion, wealth, orsuccess, but simple duty, mercy, and loving-kindness. These are theactions wrought, 'hoping for nothing again', but which most surely havetheir reward.The authorities have not been given, as for the most part thenarratives lie on the surface of history. For the description of theColiseum, I have, however, been indebted to the Abbé Gerbet's RomeChrétienne; for the Housewives of Lowenburg, and St. Stephen's Crown,to Freytag's Sketches of German Life; and for the story of George theTriller, to Mr. Mayhew's Germany. The Escape of Attalus is narrated(from Gregory of Tours) in Thierry's 'Lettres sur l'Histoire deFrance;' the Russian officer's adventures, and those of PrascoviaLopouloff<http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/yonge/deeds/pardon.html>, thetrue Elisabeth of Siberia, are from M. le Maistre; the shipwreckschiefly from Gilly's 'Shipwrecks of the British Navy;' the JerseyPowder Magazine from the Annual Registrer, and that at Ciudad Rodrigo,from the traditions of the 52nd Regiment.There is a cloud of doubt resting on a few of the tales, which it maybe honest to mention, though they were far too beautiful not to tell.These are the details of the Gallic occupation of Rome, the Legend ofSt. Genevieve, the Letter of Gertrude von der Wart, the stories of theKeys of Calais, of the Dragon of Rhodes, and we fear we must add, bothNelson's plan of the Battle of the Nile, and likewise the exact form ofthe heroism of young Casabianca, of which no two accounts agree. But itwas not possible to give up such stories as these, and the thread oftruth there must be in them has developed into such a beautiful tissue,that even if unsubstantial when tested, it is surely delightful tocontemplate.Some stories have been passed over as too devoid of foundation, inespecial that of young Henri, Duke of Nemours, who, at ten years old,was said to have been hung up with his little brother of eight in oneof Louis XI's cages at Loches, with orders that two of the children'steeth should daily be pulled out and brought to the king. The elderchild was said to have insisted on giving the whole supply of teeth, soas to save his brother; but though they were certainly imprisoned aftertheir father's execution, they were released after Louis's death in acondition which disproves this atrocity.The Indian mutiny might likewise have supplied glorious instances ofChristian self-devotion, but want of materials has compelled us to stopshort of recording those noble deeds by which delicate women and light-hearted young soldiers showed, that in the hour of need there was notwanting to them the highest and deepest 'spirit of self-sacrifice.'At some risk of prolixity, enough of the surrounding events has ingeneral been given to make the situation comprehensible, even withoutknowledge of the general history. This has been done in the hope thatthese extracts may serve as a mother's storehouse for reading aloud toher boys, or that they may be found useful for short readings to theintelligent, though uneducated classes.NOVEMBER 17, 1864.