diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/haw5210.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/haw5210.txt | 778 |
1 files changed, 778 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/haw5210.txt b/old/haw5210.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4834fcc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/haw5210.txt @@ -0,0 +1,778 @@ +Project Gutenberg EBook, Monsieur du Miroir, by Nathaniel Hawthorne +From "Mosses From An Old Manse" +#52 in our series by Nathaniel Hawthorne + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation 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: Monsieur du Miroir (From "Mosses From An Old Manse") + +Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne + +Release Date: Nov, 2005 [EBook #9225] +[This file was first posted on September 6, 2003] +[Last updated on February 6, 2007] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + + + + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, MONSIEUR DU MIROIR *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by David Widger + + + + + + MOSSES FROM AN OLD MANSE + + By Nathaniel Hawthorne + + MONSIEUR DU MIROIR + + + +Than the gentleman above named, there is nobody, in the whole circle +of my acquaintance, whom I have more attentively studied, yet of +whom I have less real knowledge, beneath the surface which it +pleases him to present. Being anxious to discover who and what he +really is, and how connected with me, and what are to be the results +to him and to myself of the joint interest which, without any choice +on my part, seems to be permanently established between us, and +incited, furthermore, by the propensities of a student of human +nature, though doubtful whether Monsieur du Miroir have aught of +humanity but the figure,--I have determined to place a few of his +remarkable points before the public, hoping to be favored with some +clew to the explanation of his character. Nor let the reader +condemn any part of the narrative as frivolous, since a subject of +such grave reflection diffuses its importance through the minutest +particulars; and there is no judging beforehand what odd little +circumstance may do the office of a blind man's dog among the +perplexities of this dark investigation; and however extraordinary, +marvellous, preternatural, and utterly incredible some of the +meditated disclosures may appear, I pledge my honor to maintain as +sacred a regard to fact as if my testimony were given on oath and +involved the dearest interests of the personage in question. Not +that there is matter for a criminal accusation against Monsieur du +Miroir, nor am I the man to bring it forward if there were. The +chief that I complain of is his impenetrable mystery, which is no +better than nonsense if it conceal anything good, and much worse in +the contrary case. + +But, if undue partialities could be supposed to influence me, +Monsieur du Miroir might hope to profit rather than to suffer by +them, for in the whole of our long intercourse we have seldom had +the slightest disagreement; and, moreover, there are reasons for +supposing him a near relative of mine, and consequently entitled to +the best word that I can give him. He bears indisputably a strong +personal resemblance to myself, and generally puts on mourning at +the funerals of the family. On the other hand, his name would +indicate a French descent; in which case, infinitely preferring that +my blood should flow from a bold British and pure Puritan source, I +beg leave to disclaim all kindred with Monsieur du Miroir. Some +genealogists trace his origin to Spain, and dub him a knight of the +order of the CABALLEROS DE LOS ESPEJOZ, one of whom was overthrown +by Don Quixote. But what says Monsieur du Miroir himself of his +paternity and his fatherland? Not a word did he ever say about the +matter; and herein, perhaps, lies one of his most especial reasons +for maintaining such a vexatious mystery, that he lacks the faculty +of speech to expound it. His lips are sometimes seen to move; his +eyes and countenance are alive with shifting expression, as if +corresponding by visible hieroglyphics to his modulated breath; and +anon he will seem to pause with as satisfied an air as if he had +been talking excellent sense. Good sense or bad, Monsieur du Miroir +is the sole judge of his own conversational powers, never having +whispered so much as a syllable that reached the ears of any other +auditor. Is he really dumb? or is all the world deaf? or is it +merely a piece of my friend's waggery, meant for nothing but to make +fools of us? If so, he has the joke all to himself. + +This dumb devil which possesses Monsieur do Miroir is, I am +persuaded, the sole reason that he does not make me the most +flattering protestations of friendship. In many particulars-- +indeed, as to all his cognizable and not preternatural points, +except that, once in a great while, I speak a word or two--there +exists the greatest apparent sympathy between us. Such is his +confidence in my taste that he goes astray from the general fashion +and copies all his dresses after mine. I never try on a new garment +without expecting to meet, Monsieur du Miroir in one of the same +pattern. He has duplicates of all my waistcoats and cravats, shirt- +bosoms of precisely a similar plait, and an old coat for private +wear, manufactured, I suspect, by a Chinese tailor, in exact +imitation of a beloved old coat of mine, with a facsimile, stitch by +stitch, of a patch upon the elbow. In truth, the singular and +minute coincidences that occur, both in the accidents of the passing +day and the serious events of our lives, remind me of those doubtful +legends of lovers, or twin children, twins of fate, who have lived, +enjoyed, suffered, and died in unison, each faithfully repeating the +last tremor of the other's breath, though separated by vast tracts +of sea and land. Strange to say, my incommodities belong equally to +my companion, though the burden is nowise alleviated by his +participation. The other morning, after a night of torment from the +toothache, I met Monsieur du Miroir with such a swollen anguish in +his cheek that my own pangs were redoubled, as were also his, if I +might judge by a fresh contortion of his visage. All the +inequalities of my spirits are communicated to him, causing the +unfortunate Monsieur du Miroir to mope and scowl through a whole +summer's day, or to laugh as long, for no better reason than the gay +or gloomy crotchets of my brain. Once we were joint sufferers of a +three months' sickness, and met like mutual ghosts in the first days +of convalescence. Whenever I have been in love, Monsieur du Miroir +has looked passionate and tender; and never did my mistress discard +me, but this too susceptible gentleman grew lackadaisical. His +temper, also, rises to blood heat, fever heat, or boiling-water +beat, according to the measure of any wrong which might seem to have +fallen entirely on myself. I have sometimes been calmed down by the +sight of my own inordinate wrath depicted on his frowning brow. +Yet, however prompt in taking up my quarrels, I cannot call to mind +that he ever struck a downright blow in my behalf; nor, in fact, do +I perceive that any real and tangible good has resulted from his +constant interference in my affairs; so that, in my distrustful +moods, I am apt to suspect Monsieur du Miroir's sympathy to be mere +outward show, not a whit better nor worse than other people's +sympathy. Nevertheless, as mortal man must have something in the +guise of sympathy,--and whether the true metal, or merely +copper-washed, is of less moment,--I choose rather to content myself +with Monsieur du Miroir's, such as it is, than to seek the sterling +coin, and perhaps miss even the counterfeit. + +In my age of vanities I have often seen him in the ballroom, and +might again were I to seek him there. We have encountered each +other at the Tremont Theatre, where, however, he took his seat +neither in the dress-circle, pit, nor upper regions, nor threw a +single glance at the stage, though the brightest star, even Fanny +Kemble herself, might be culminating there. No; this whimsical +friend of mine chose to linger in the saloon, near one of the large +looking-glasses which throw back their pictures of the illuminated +room. He is so full of these unaccountable eccentricities that I +never like to notice Monsieur du Miroir, nor to acknowledge the +slightest connection with him, in places of public resort. He, +however, has no scruple about claiming my acquaintance, even when +his common-sense, if he had any, might teach him that I would as +willingly exchange a nod with the Old Nick. It was but the other +day that he got into a large brass kettle at the entrance of a +hardware-store, and thrust his head, the moment afterwards, into a +bright, new warming-pan, whence he gave me a most merciless look of +recognition. He smiled, and so did I; but these childish tricks +make decent people rather shy of Monsieur du Miroir, and subject him +to more dead cuts than any other gentleman in town. + +One of this singular person's most remarkable peculiarities is his +fondness for water, wherein he excels any temperance man whatever. +His pleasure, it must be owned, is not so much to drink it (in which +respect a very moderate quantity will answer his occasions) as to +souse himself over head and ears wherever he may meet with it. +Perhaps he is a merman, or born of a mermaid's marriage with a +mortal, and thus amphibious by hereditary right, like the children +which the old river deities, or nymphs of fountains, gave to earthly +love. When no cleaner bathing-place happened to be at hand, I have +seen the foolish fellow in a horse-pond. Some times he refreshes +himself in the trough of a town-pump, without caring what the people +think about him. Often, while carefully picking my way along the +street after a heavy shower, I have been scandalized to see Monsieur +du Miroir, in full dress, paddling from one mud-puddle to another, +and plunging into the filthy depths of each. Seldom have I peeped +into a well without discerning this ridiculous gentleman at the +bottom, whence he gazes up, as through a long telescopic tube, and +probably makes discoveries among the stars by daylight. Wandering +along lonesome paths or in pathless forests, when I have come to +virgin fountains of which it would have been pleasant to deem myself +the first discoverer, I have started to find Monsieur du Miroir +there before me. The solitude seemed lonelier for his presence. I +have leaned from a precipice that frowns over Lake George, which the +French call nature's font of sacramental water, and used it in their +log-churches here and their cathedrals beyond the sea, and seen him +far below in that pure element. At Niagara, too, where I would +gladly have forgotten both myself and him, I could not help +observing my companion in the smooth water on the very verge of the +cataract just above the Table Rock. Were I to reach the sources of +the Nile, I should expect to meet him there. Unless he be another +Ladurlad, whose garments the depth of ocean could not moisten, it is +difficult to conceive how he keeps himself in any decent pickle; +though I am bound to confess that his clothes seem always as dry and +comfortable as my own. But, as a friend, I could wish that he would +not so often expose himself in liquor. + +All that I have hitherto related may be classed among those little +personal oddities which agreeably diversify the surface of society, +and, though they may sometimes annoy us, yet keep our daily +intercourse fresher and livelier than if they were done away. By an +occasional hint, however, I have endeavored to pave the way for +stranger things to come, which, had they been disclosed at once, +Monsieur du Miroir might have been deemed a shadow, and myself a +person of no veracity, and this truthful history a fabulous legend. +But, now that the reader knows me worthy of his confidence, I will +begin to make him stare. + +To speak frankly, then, I could bring the most astounding proofs +that Monsieur du Miroir is at least a conjurer, if not one of that +unearthly tribe with whom conjurers deal. He has inscrutable +methods of conveying himself from place to place with the rapidity +of the swiftest steamboat or rail-car. Brick walls and oaken doors +and iron bolts are no impediment to his passage. Here in my chamber, +for instance, as the evening deepens into night, I sit alone,--the +key turned and withdrawn from the lock, the keyhole stuffed with +paper to keep out a peevish little blast of wind. Yet, lonely as I +seem, were I to lift one of the lamps and step five paces eastward, +Monsieur du Miroir would be sure to meet me with a lamp also in his +hand; and were I to take the stage-coach to-morrow, without giving +him the least hint of my design, and post onward till the week's +end, at whatever hotel I might find myself I should expect to share +my private apartment with this inevitable Monsieur du Miroir. Or, +out of a mere wayward fantasy, were I to go, by moonlight, and stand +beside the stone Pout of the Shaker Spring at Canterbury, Monsieur +du Miroir would set forth on the same fool's errand, and would not +fail to meet me there. Shall I heighten the reader's wonder? While +writing these latter sentences, I happened to glance towards the +large, round globe of one off the brass andirons, and lo! a +miniature apparition of Monsieur du Miroir, with his face widened +and grotesquely contorted, as if he were making fun of my amazement! +But he has played so many of these jokes that they begin to lose +their effect. Once, presumptuous that he was, he stole into the +heaven of a young lady's eyes; so that, while I gazed and was +dreaming only of herself, I found him also in my dream. Years have +so changed him since that he need never hope to enter those heavenly +orbs again. + +From these veritable statements it will be readily concluded that, +had Monsieur du Miroir played such pranks in old witch times, +matters might have gone hard with him; at least if the constable and +posse comitatus could have executed a warrant, or the jailer had +been cunning enough to keep him. But it has often occurred to me as +a very singular circumstance, and as betokening either a temperament +morbidly suspicious or some weighty cause of apprehension, that he +never trusts himself within the grasp even of his most intimate +friend. If you step forward to meet him, he readily advances; if +you offer him your hand, he extends his own with an air of the +utmost frankness; but, though you calculate upon a hearty shake, you +do not get hold of his little finger. Ah, this Monsieur du Miroir is +a slippery fellow! + +These truly are matters of special admiration. After vainly +endeavoring, by the strenuous exertion of my own wits, to gain a +satisfactory insight into the character of Monsieur du Miroir, I had +recourse to certain wise men, and also to books of abstruse +philosophy, seeking who it was that haunted me, and why. I heard +long lectures and read huge volumes with little profit beyond the +knowledge that many former instances are recorded, in successive +ages, of similar connections between ordinary mortals and beings +possessing the attributes of Monsieur du Miroir. Some now alive, +perhaps, besides myself, have such attendants. Would that Monsieur +du Miroir could be persuaded to transfer his attachment to one of +those, and allow some other of his race to assume the situation that +he now holds in regard to me! If I must needs have so intrusive an +intimate, who stares me in the face in my closest privacy, and +follows me even to my bedchamber, I should prefer--scandal apart-- +the laughing bloom of a young girl to the dark and bearded gravity +of my present companion. But such desires are never to be +gratified. Though the members of Monsieur du Miroir's family have +been accused, perhaps justly, of visiting their friends often in +splendid halls, and seldom in darksome dungeons, yet they exhibit a +rare constancy to the objects of their first attachment, however +unlovely in person or unamiable in disposition,--however +unfortunate, or even infamous, and deserted by all the world +besides. So will it be with my associate. Our fates appear +inseparably blended. It is my belief, as I find him mingling with +my earliest recollections, that we came into existence together, as +my shadow follows me into the sunshine, and that hereafter, as +heretofore, the brightness or gloom of my fortunes will shine upon, +or darken, the face of Monsieur du Miroir. As we have been young +together, and as it is now near the summer noon with both of us, so, +if long life be granted, shall each count his own wrinkles on the +other's brow and his white hairs on the other's head. And when the +coffin-lid shall have closed over me and that face and form, which, +more truly than the lover swears it to his beloved, are the sole +light of his existence,--when they shall be laid in that dark +chamber, whither his swift and secret footsteps cannot bring him,-- +then what is to become of poor Monsieur du Miroir? Will he have the +fortitude, with my other friends, to take a last look at my pale +countenance? Will he walk foremost in the funeral train? Will he +come often and haunt around my grave, and weed away the nettles, and +plant flowers amid the verdure, and scrape the moss out of the +letters of my burial-stone? Will he linger where I have lived, to +remind the neglectful world of one who staked much to win a name, +but will not then care whether he lost or won? + +Not thus will he prove his deep fidelity. O, what terror, if this +friend of mine, after our last farewell, should step into the +crowded street, or roam along our old frequented path by the still +waters, or sit down in the domestic circle where our faces are most +familiar and beloved! No; but when the rays of heaven shall bless +me no more, nor the thoughtful lamplight gleam upon my studies, nor +the cheerful fireside gladden the meditative man, then, his task +fulfilled, shall this mysterious being vanish from the earth +forever. He will pass to the dark realm of nothingness, but will +not find me there. + +There is something fearful in bearing such a relation to a creature +so imperfectly known, and in the idea that, to a certain extent, all +which concerns myself will be reflected in its consequences upon +him. When we feel that another is to share the self-same fortune +with ourselves we judge more severely of our prospects, and withhold +our confidence from that delusive magic which appears to shed an +infallibility of happiness over our own pathway. Of late years, +indeed, there has been much to sadden my intercourse with Monsieur +de Miroir. Had not our union been a necessary condition of our +life, we must have been estranged ere now. In early youth, when my +affections were warm and free, I loved him well, and could always +spend a pleasant hour in his society, chiefly because it gave me an +excellent opinion of myself. Speechless as he was, Monsieur du +Miroir had then a most agreeable way of calling me a handsome +fellow; and I, of course, returned the compliment; so that, the more +we kept each other's company, the greater coxcombs we mutually grew. +But neither of us need apprehend any such misfortune now. When we +chance to meet,--for it is chance oftener than design,--each glances +sadly at the other's forehead, dreading wrinkles there; and at our +temples, whence the hair is thinning away too early; and at the +sunken eyes, which no longer shed a gladsome light over the whole +face. I involuntarily peruse him as a record of my heavy youth, +which has been wasted in sluggishness for lack of hope and impulse, +or equally thrown away in toil that had no wise motive and has +accomplished no good end. I perceive that the tranquil gloom of a +disappointed soul has darkened through his countenance, where the +blackness of the future seems to mingle with the shadows of the +past, giving him the aspect of a fated man. Is it too wild a +thought that my fate may have assumed this image of myself, and +therefore haunts me with such inevitable pertinacity, originating +every act which it appears to imitate, while it deludes me by +pretending to share the events of which it is merely the emblem and +the prophecy? I must banish this idea, or it will throw too deep an +awe round my companion. At our next meeting, especially if it be at +midnight or in solitude, I fear that I shall glance aside and +shudder; in which case, as Monsieur du Miroir is extremely sensitive +to ill-treatment, he also will avert his eyes and express horror or +disgust. + +But no; this is unworthy of me. As of old I sought his society for +the bewitching dreams of woman's love which he inspired, and because +I fancied a bright fortune in his aspect, so now will I hold daily +and long communion with hint for the sake of the stern lessons that +he will teach my manhood. With folded arms we will sit face to +face, and lengthen out our silent converse till a wiser cheerfulness +shall have been wrought from the very texture of despondency. He +will say, perhaps indignantly, that it befits only him to mourn for +the decay of outward grace, which, while he possessed it, was his +all. But have not you, he will ask, a treasure in reserve, to which +every year may add far more value than age or death itself can +snatch from that miserable clay? He will tell me that though the +bloom of life has been nipped with a frost, yet the soul must not +sit shivering in its cell, but bestir itself manfully, and kindle a +genial warmth from its own exercise against; the autumnal and the +wintry atmosphere. And I, in return, will bid him be of good cheer, +nor take it amiss that I must blanch his locks and wrinkle him up +like a wilted apple, since it shall be my endeavor so to beautify +his face with intellect and mild benevolence that he shall profit +immensely by the change. But here a smile will glimmer somewhat +sadly over Monsieur du Miroir's visage. + +When this subject shall have been sufficiently discussed we may take +up others as important. Reflecting upon his power of following me +to the remotest regions and into the deepest privacy, I will compare +the attempt to escape him to the hopeless race that men sometimes +run with memory, or their own hearts, or their moral selves, which, +though burdened with cares enough to crush an elephant, will never +be one step behind. I will be self-contemplative, as nature bids +me, and make him the picture or visible type of what I muse upon, +that my mind may not wander so vaguely as heretofore, chasing its +own shadow through a chaos and catching only the monsters that abide +there. Then will we turn our thoughts to the spiritual world, of +the reality of which my companions shall furnish me an illustration, +if not an argument; for, as we have only the testimony of the eye to +Monsieur du Miroir's existence, while all the other senses would +fail to inform us that such a figure stands within arm's-length, +wherefore should there not be beings innumerable close beside us, +and filling heaven and earth with their multitude, yet of whom no +corporeal perception can take cognizance? A blind man might as +reasonably deny that Monsieur du Miroir exists, as we, because the +Creator has hitherto withheld the spiritual perception, can +therefore contend that there are no spirits. O, there are! And, at +this moment, when the subject of which I write has grown strong +within me and surrounded itself with those solemn and awful +associations which might have seemed most alien to it, I could fancy +that Monsieur du Miroir himself is a wanderer from the spiritual +world, with nothing human except his delusive garment of visibility. +Methinks I should tremble now were his wizard power of gliding +through all impediments in search of me to place him suddenly before +my eyes. + +Ha! What is yonder? Shape of mystery, did the tremor of my +heartstrings vibrate to thine own, and call thee from thy home among +the dancers of the northern lights, and shadows flung from departed +sunshine, and giant spectres that appear on clouds at daybreak and +affright the climber of the Alps? In truth it startled me, as I +threw a wary glance eastward across the chamber, to discern an +unbidden guest with his eyes bent on mine. The identical MONSIEUR DU +MIROIR! Still there he sits and returns my gaze with as much of awe +and curiosity as if he, too, had spent a solitary evening in +fantastic musings and made me his theme. So inimitably does he +counterfeit that I could almost doubt which of us is the visionary +form, or whether each be not the other's mystery, and both twin +brethren of one fate, in mutually reflected spheres. O friend, +canst thou not hear and answer me? Break down the barrier between +us! Grasp my hand! Speak! Listen! A few words, perhaps, might +satisfy the feverish yearning of my soul for some master-thought +that should guide me through this labyrinth of life, teaching +wherefore I was born, and how to do my task on earth, and what is +death. Alas! Even that unreal image should forget to ape me and +smile at these vain questions. Thus do mortals deify, as it were, a +mere shadow of themselves, a spectre of human reason, and ask of +that to unveil the mysteries which Divine Intelligence has revealed +so far as needful to our guidance, and hid the rest. + +Farewell, Monsieur du Miroir. Of you, perhaps, as of many men, it +may be doubted whether you are the wiser, though your whole business +is REFLECTION. + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, MONSIEUR DU MIROIR *** +By Nathaniel Hawthorne + +**** This file should be named haw5210.txt or haw5210.zip **** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, haw5211.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, haw5210a.txt + +This eBook was produced by David Widger [widger@cecomet.net] + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +http://gutenberg.net or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* |