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Moll Flanders
This purportedly true story, recorded by English author Daniel Defoe, tells of the strange life of Moll Flanders, a woman who lives in sin and wickedness, surviving only on her beauty, cleverness, and deceit. Finding herself in the role of mistress or kept woman, or alternatively married to a man that she does not love, Moll seduces various men and resorts to thievery to pay her way before eventually repenting for her sins at the end of her life.
Moll Flanders was one of Defoe's later works, written during a prolific period during which he published other famous works including The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Roxana, and A Journal of the Plague Year. Due to the somewhat scandalous nature of its content, Moll Flanders did not experience the immediate success that other of Defoe's works did upon publication, but has since become recognized as a significant literary achievement.
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Moll Flanders - Daniel Defoe
The Fortunes and Misfortunes
of the Famous Moll Flanders
Daniel Defoe
Title Page
Author's Preface
The Fortunes and Misfortunes
of the Famous Moll Flanders
About the Author
About the Series
About the Publisher
The Author's Preface
The world is so taken up of late with novels and romances, that it will be hard for a private history to be taken for genuine, where the names and other circumstances of the person are concealed, and on this account we must be content to leave the reader to pass his own opinion upon the ensuing sheet, and take it just as he pleases.
The author is here supposed to be writing her own history, and in the very beginning of her account she gives the reasons why she thinks fit to conceal her true name, after which there is no occasion to say any more about that.
It is true that the original of this story is put into new words, and the style of the famous lady we here speak of is a little altered; particularly she is made to tell her own tale in modester words that she told it at first, the copy which came first to hand having been written in language more like one still in Newgate than one grown penitent and humble, as she afterwards pretends to be.
The pen employed in finishing her story, and making it what you now see it to be, has had no little difficulty to put it into a dress fit to be seen, and to make it speak language fit to be read. When a woman debauched from her youth, nay, even being the offspring of debauchery and vice, comes to give an account of all her vicious practices, and even to descend to the particular occasions and circumstances by which she ran through in threescore years, an author must be hard put to it wrap it up so clean as not to give room, especially for vicious readers, to turn it to his disadvantage.
All possible care, however, has been taken to give no lewd ideas, no immodest turns in the new dressing up of this story; no, not to the worst parts of her expressions. To this purpose some of the vicious part of her life, which could not be modestly told, is quite left out, and several other parts are very much shortened. What is left 'tis hoped will not offend the chastest reader or the modest hearer; and as the best use is made even of the worst story, the moral 'tis hoped will keep the reader serious, even where the story might incline him to be otherwise. To give the history of a wicked life repented of, necessarily requires that the wicked part should be make as wicked as the real history of it will bear, to illustrate and give a beauty to the penitent part, which is certainly the best and brightest, if related with equal spirit and life.
It is suggested there cannot be the same life, the same brightness and beauty, in relating the penitent part as is in the criminal part. If there is any truth in that suggestion, I must be allowed to say 'tis because there is not the same taste and relish in the reading, and indeed it is to true that the difference lies not in the real worth of the subject so much as in the gust and palate of the reader.
But as this work is chiefly recommended to those who know how to read it, and how to make the good uses of it which the story all along recommends to them, so it is to be hoped that such readers will be more pleased with the moral than the fable, with the application than with the relation, and with the end of the writer than with the life of the person written of.
There is in this story abundance of delightful incidents, and all of them usefully applied. There is an agreeable turn artfully given them in the relating, that naturally instructs the reader, either one way or other. The first part of her lewd life with the young gentleman at Colchester has so many happy turns given it to expose the crime, and warn all whose circumstances are adapted to it, of the ruinous end of such things, and the foolish, thoughtless, and abhorred conduct of both the parties, that it abundantly atones for all the lively description she gives of her folly and wickedness.
The repentance of her lover at the Bath, and how brought by the just alarm of his fit of sickness to abandon her; the just caution given there against even the lawful intimacies of the dearest friends, and how unable they are to preserve the most solemn resolutions of virtue without divine assistance; these are parts which, to a just discernment, will appear to have more real beauty in them all the amorous chain of story which introduces it.
In a word, as the whole relation is carefully garbled of all the levity and looseness that was in it, so it all applied, and with the utmost care, to virtuous and religious uses. None can, without being guilty of manifest injustice, cast any reproach upon it, or upon our design in publishing it.
The advocates for the stage have, in all ages, made this the great argument to persuade people that their plays are useful, and that they ought to be allowed in the most civilised and in the most religious government; namely, that they are applied to virtuous purposes, and that by the most lively representations, they fail not to recommend virtue and generous principles, and to discourage and expose all sorts of vice and corruption of manners; and were it true that they did so, and that they constantly adhered to that rule, as the test of their acting on the theatre, much might be said in their favour.
Throughout the infinite variety of this book, this fundamental is most strictly adhered to; there is not a wicked action in any part of it, but is first and last rendered unhappy and unfortunate; there is not a superlative villain brought upon the stage, but either he is brought to an unhappy end, or brought to be a penitent; there is not an ill thing mentioned but it is condemned, even in the relation, nor a virtuous, just thing but it carries its praise along with it. What can more exactly answer the rule laid down, to recommend even those representations of things which have so many other just objections leaving against them? namely, of example, of bad company, obscene language, and the like.
Upon this foundation this book is recommended to the reader as a work from every part of which something may be learned, and some just and religious inference is drawn, by which the reader will have something of instruction, if he pleases to make use of it.
All the exploits of this lady of fame, in her depredations upon mankind, stand as so many warnings to honest people to beware of them, intimating to them by what methods innocent people are drawn in, plundered and robbed, and by consequence how to avoid them. Her robbing a little innocent child, dressed fine by the vanity of the mother, to go to the dancing-school, is a good memento to such people hereafter, as is likewise her picking the gold watch from the young lady's side in the Park.
Her getting a parcel from a hare-brained wench at the coaches in St. John Street; her booty made at the fire, and again at Harwich, all give us excellent warnings in such cases to be more present to ourselves in sudden surprises of every sort.
Her application to a sober life and industrious management at last in Virginia, with her transported spouse, is a story fruitful of instruction to all the unfortunate creatures who are obliged to seek their reestablishment abroad, whether by the misery of transportation or other disaster; letting them know that diligence and application have their due encouragement, even in the remotest parts of the world, and that no case can be so low, so despicable, or so empty of prospect, but that an unwearied industry will go a great way to deliver us from it, will in time raise the meanest creature to appear again the world, and give him a new case for his life.
There are a few of the serious inferences which we are led by the hand to in this book, and these are fully sufficient to justify any man in recommending it to the world, and much more to justify the publication of it.
There are two of the most beautiful parts still behind, which this story gives some idea of, and lets us into the parts of them, but they are either of them too long to be brought into the same volume, and indeed are, as I may call them, whole volumes of themselves, viz., the life of her governess, as she calls her, who had run through, it seems, in a few years, all the eminent degrees of a gentlewoman, a whore, and a bawd; a midwife and a midwife-keeper, as they are called; a pawnbroker, a child-taker, a receiver of thieves, and of thieves' purchase, that is to say, of stolen goods; and in a word, herself a thief, a breeder up of thieves and the like, and yet at last a penitent.
The second is the life of her transported husband, a highwayman, who it seems, lived a twelve years' life of successful villainy upon the road, and even at last came off so well as to be a volunteer transport, not a convict; and in whose life there is an incredible variety.
But, as I have said, these are things too long to bring in here, so neither can I make a promise of the coming out by themselves.
We cannot say, indeed, that this history is carried on quite to the end of the life of this famous Moll Flanders, as she calls herself, for nobody can write their own life to the full end of it, unless they can write it after they are dead. But her husband's life, being written by a third hand, gives a full account of them both, how long they lived together in that country, and how they both came to England again, after about eight years, in which time they were grown very rich, and where she lived, it seems, to be very old, but was not so extraordinary a penitent as she was at first; it seems only that indeed she always spoke with abhorrence of her former life, and of every part of it.
In her last scene, at Maryland and Virginia, many pleasant things happened, which makes that part of her life very agreeable, but they are not told with the same elegancy as those accounted for by herself; so it is still to the more advantage that we break off here.
The Fortunes and Misfortunes
of the Famous Moll Flanders
My true name is so well known in the records or registers at Newgate, and in the Old Bailey, and there are some things of such consequence still depending there, relating to my particular conduct, that it is not be expected I should set my name or the account of my family to this work; perhaps, after my death, it may be better known; at present it would not be proper, no not though a general pardon should be issued, even without exceptions and reserve of persons or crimes.
It is enough to tell you, that as some of my worst comrades, who are out of the way of doing me harm (having gone out of the world by the steps and the string, as I often expected to go), knew me by the name of Moll Flanders, so you may give me leave to speak of myself under that name till I dare own who I have been, as well as who I am.
I have been told that in one of neighbour nations, whether it be in France or where else I know not, they have an order from the king, that when any criminal is condemned, either to die, or to the galleys, or to be transported, if they leave any children, as such are generally unprovided for, by the poverty or forfeiture of their parents, so they are immediately taken into the care of the Government, and put into a hospital called the House of Orphans, where they are bred up, clothed, fed, taught, and when fit to go out, are placed out to trades or to services, so as to be well able to provide for themselves by an honest, industrious behaviour.
Had this been the custom in our country, I had not been left a poor desolate girl without friends, without clothes, without help or helper in the world, as was my fate; and by which I was not only exposed to very great distresses, even before I was capable either of understanding my case or how to amend it, but brought into a course of life which was not only scandalous in itself, but which in its ordinary course tended to the swift destruction both of soul and body.
But the case was otherwise here. My mother was convicted of felony for a certain petty theft scarce worth naming, viz. having an opportunity of borrowing three pieces of fine holland of a certain draper in Cheapside. The circumstances are too long to repeat, and I have heard them related so many ways, that I can scarce be certain which is the right account.
However it was, this they all agree in, that my mother pleaded her belly, and being found quick with child, she was respited for about seven months; in which time having brought me into the world, and being about again, she was called down, as they term it, to her former judgment, but obtained the favour of being transported to the plantations, and left me about half a year old; and in bad hands, you may be sure.
This is too near the first hours of my life for me to relate anything of myself but by hearsay; it is enough to mention, that as I was born in such an unhappy place, I had no parish to have recourse to for my nourishment in my infancy; nor can I give the least account how I was kept alive, other than that, as I have been told, some relation of my mother's took me away for a while as a nurse, but at whose expense, or by whose direction, I know nothing at all of it.
The first account that I can recollect, or could ever learn of myself, was that I had wandered among a crew of those people they call gypsies, or Egyptians; but I believe it was but a very little while that I had been among them, for I had not had my skin discoloured or blackened, as they do very young to all the children they carry about with them; nor can I tell how I came among them, or how I got from them.
It was at Colchester, in Essex, that those people left me; and I have a notion in my head that I left them there (that is, that I hid myself and would not go any farther with them), but I am not able to be particular in that account; only this I remember, that being taken up by some of the parish officers of Colchester, I gave an account that I came into the town with the gypsies, but that I would not go any farther with them, and that so they had left me, but whither they were gone that I knew not, nor could they expect it of me; for though they send round the country to inquire after them, it seems they could not be found.
I was now in a way to be provided for; for though I was not a parish charge upon this or that part of the town by law, yet as my case came to be known, and that I was too young to do any work, being not above three years old, compassion moved the magistrates of the town to order some care to be taken of me, and I became one of their own as much as if I had been born in the place.
In the provision they made for me, it was my good hap to be put to nurse, as they call it, to a woman who was indeed poor but had been in better circumstances, and who got a little livelihood by taking such as I was supposed to be, and keeping them with all necessaries, till they were at a certain age, in which it might be supposed they might go to service or get their own bread.
This woman had also had a little school, which she kept to teach children to read and to work; and having, as I have said, lived before that in good fashion, she bred up the children she took with a great deal of art, as well as with a great deal of care.
But that which was worth all the rest, she bred them up very religiously, being herself a very sober, pious woman, very house-wifely and clean, and very mannerly, and with good behaviour. So that in a word, expecting a plain diet, coarse lodging, and mean clothes, we were brought up as mannerly and as genteelly as if we had been at the dancing-school.
I was continued here till I was eight years old, when I was terrified with news that the magistrates (as I think they called them) had ordered that I should go to service. I was able to do but very little service wherever I was to go, except it was to run of errands and be a drudge to some cookmaid, and this they told me of often, which put me into a great fright; for I had a thorough aversion to going to service, as they called it (that is, to be a servant), though I was so young; and I told my nurse, as we called her, that I believed I could get my living without going to service, if she pleased to let me; for she had taught me to work with my needle, and spin worsted, which is the chief trade of that city, and I told her that if she would keep me, I would work for her, and I would work very hard.
I talked to her almost every day of working hard; and, in short, I did nothing but work and cry all day, which grieved the good, kind woman so much, that at last she began to be concerned for me, for she loved me very well.
One day after this, as she came into the room where all we poor children were at work, she sat down just over against me, not in her usual place as mistress, but as if she set herself on purpose to observe me and see me work. I was doing something she had set me to; as I remember, it was marking some shirts which she had taken to make, and after a while she began to talk to me. 'Thou foolish child,' says she, 'thou art always crying (for I was crying then); 'prithee, what dost cry for?' 'Because they will take me away,' says I, 'and put me to service, and I can't work housework.' 'Well, child,' says she, 'but though you can't work housework, as you call it, you will learn it in time, and they won't put you to hard things at first.' 'Yes, they will,' says I, 'and if I can't do it they will beat me, and the maids will beat me to make me do great work, and I am but a little girl and I can't do it'; and then I cried again, till I could not speak any more.
This moved my good motherly nurse, so that she from that time resolved I should not go to service yet; so she bid me not cry, and she would speak to Mr. Mayor, and I should not go to service till I was bigger.
Well, this did not satisfy me, for to think of going to service was such a frightful thing to me, that if she had assured me I should not have gone till I was twenty years old, it would have been the same to me; I should have cried, I believe, all the time, with the very apprehension of its being to be so at last.
When she saw that I was not pacified yet, she began to be angry with me. 'And what would you have?' says she; 'don't I tell you that you shall not go to service till you are bigger?' 'Aye,' said I, 'but then I must go at last.' 'Why, what?' said she; 'is the girl mad? What would you be—a gentlewoman?' 'Yes,' says I, and cried heartily till I roared out again.
This set the old gentlewoman a-laughing at me, as you may be sure it would. 'Well, madam, forsooth,' says she, gibing at me, 'you would be a gentlewoman; and pray how will you come to be a gentlewoman? What! will you do it by your fingers' end?'
'Yes,' says I again, very innocently.
'Why, what can you earn?' says she; 'what can you get at your work?'
'Threepence,' said I, 'when I spin, and fourpence when I work plain work.'
'Alas! poor gentlewoman,' said she again, laughing, 'what will that do for thee?'
'It will keep me,' says I, 'if you will let me live with you.' And this I said in such a poor petitioning tone, that it made the poor woman's heart yearn to me, as she told me afterwards.
'But,' says she, 'that will not keep you and buy you clothes too; and who must buy the little gentlewoman clothes?' says she, and smiled all the while at me.
'I will work harder, then,' says I, 'and you shall have it all.'
'Poor child! it won't keep you,' says she; 'it will hardly keep you in victuals.'
'Then I will have no victuals,' says I, again very innocently; 'let me but live with you.'
'Why, can you live without victuals?' says she.
'Yes,' again says I, very much like a child, you may be sure, and still I cried heartily.
I had no policy in all this; you may easily see it was all nature; but it was joined with so much innocence and so much passion that, in short, it set the good motherly creature a-weeping too, and she cried at last as fast as I did, and then took me and led me out of the teaching-room. 'Come,' says she, 'you shan't go to service; you shall live with me,' and this pacified me for the present.
Sometime after this, she going to wait on the Mayor, and talking of such things as belonged to her business, at last my story came up, and my good nurse told Mr. Mayor the whole tale. He was so pleased with it, that he would call his lady and his two daughters to hear it, and it made mirth enough among them, you may be sure.
However, not a week had passed over, but on a sudden comes Mrs. Mayoress and her two daughters to the house to see my old nurse, and to see her school and the children. When they had looked about them a little, 'Well, Mrs.——,' says the Mayoress to my nurse, 'and pray which is the little lass that intends to be a gentlewoman?' I heard her, and I was terribly frightened at first, though I did not know why neither; but Mrs. Mayoress comes up to me. 'Well, miss,' says she, 'and what are you at work upon?' The word miss was a language that had hardly been heard of in our school, and I wondered what sad name it was she called me. However, I stood up, made a curtsy, and she took my work out of my hand, looked on it, and said it was very well; then she took up one of the hands. 'Nay,' says she, 'the child may come to be a gentlewoman for aught anybody knows; she has a gentlewoman's hand,' says she. This pleased me mightily, you may be sure; but Mrs. Mayoress did not stop there, but giving me my work again, she put her hand in her pocket, gave me a shilling, and bid me mind my work, and learn to work well, and I might be a gentlewoman for aught she knew.
All this while my good old nurse, Mrs. Mayoress, and all the rest of them did not understand me at all, for they meant one sort of thing by the word gentlewoman, and I meant quite another; for alas! all I understood by being a gentlewoman was to be able to work for myself, and get enough to keep me without that terrible bugbear going to service, whereas they meant to live great, rich and high, and I know not what.
Well, after Mrs. Mayoress was gone, her two daughters came in, and they called for the gentlewoman too, and they talked a long while to me, and I answered them in my innocent way; but always, if they asked me whether I resolved to be a gentlewoman, I answered Yes. At last one of them asked me what a gentlewoman was? That puzzled me much; but, however, I explained myself negatively, that it was one that did not go to service, to do housework. They were pleased to be familiar with me, and like my little prattle to them, which, it seems, was agreeable enough to them, and they gave me money too.
As for my money, I gave it all to my mistress-nurse, as I called her, and told her she should have all I got for myself when I was a gentlewoman, as well as now. By this and some other of my talk, my old tutoress began to understand me about what I meant by being a gentlewoman, and that I understood by it no more than to be able to get my bread by my own work; and at last she asked me whether it was not so.
I told her, yes, and insisted on it, that to do so was to be a gentlewoman; 'for,' says I, 'there is such a one,' naming a woman that mended lace and washed the ladies' laced-heads; 'she,' says I, 'is a gentlewoman, and they call her madam.'
'Poor child,' says my good old nurse, 'you may soon be such a gentlewoman as that, for she is a person of ill fame, and has had two or three bastards.'
I did not understand anything of that; but I answered, 'I am sure they call her madam, and she does not go to service nor do housework'; and therefore I insisted that she was a gentlewoman, and I would be such a gentlewoman as that.
The ladies were told all this again, to be sure, and they made themselves merry with it, and every now and then the young ladies, Mr. Mayor's daughters, would come and see me, and ask where the little gentlewoman was, which made me not a little proud of myself. This held a great while, and I was often visited by these young ladies, and sometimes they brought others with them; so that I was known by it almost all over the town.
I was now about ten years old, and began to look a little womanish, for I was mighty grave and humble, very mannerly, and as I had often heard the ladies say I was pretty, and would be a very handsome woman, so you may be sure that hearing them say so made me not a little proud. However, that pride had no ill effect upon me yet; only, as they often gave me money, and I gave it to my old nurse, she, honest woman, was so just to me as to lay it all out again for me, and gave me head-dresses, and linen, and gloves, and ribbons, and I went very neat, and always clean; for that I would do, and if I had rags on, I would always be clean, or else I would dabble them in water myself; but, I say, my good nurse, when I had money given me, very honestly laid it out for me, and would always tell the ladies this or that was bought with their money; and this made them oftentimes give me more, till at last I was indeed called upon by the magistrates, as I understood it, to go out to service; but then I was come to be so good a workwoman myself, and the ladies were so kind to me, that it was plain I could maintain myself—that is to say, I could earn as much for my nurse as she was able by it to keep me—so she told them that if they would give her leave, she would keep the gentlewoman, as she called me, to be her assistant and teach the children, which I was very well able to do; for I was very nimble at my work, and had a good hand with my needle, though I was yet very young.
But the kindness of the ladies of the town did not end here, for when they came to understand that I was no more maintained by the public allowance as before, they gave me money oftener than formerly; and as I grew up they brought me work to do for them, such as linen to make, and laces to mend, and heads to dress up, and not only paid me for doing them, but even taught me how to do them; so that now I was a gentlewoman indeed, as I understood that word, I not only found myself clothes and paid my nurse for my keeping, but got money in my pocket too.
The ladies also gave me clothes frequently of their own or their children's; some stockings, some petticoats, some gowns, some one thing, some another, and these my old woman managed for me like a mere mother, and kept them for me, obliged me to mend them, and turn them and twist them to the best advantage, for she was a rare housewife.
At last one of the ladies took so much fancy to me that she would have me home to her house, for a month, she said, to be among her daughters.
Now, though this was exceeding kind in her, yet, as my old good woman said to her, unless she resolved to keep me for good and all, she would do the little gentlewoman more harm than good. 'Well,' says the lady, 'that's true; and therefore I'll only take her home for a week, then, that I may see how my daughters and she agree together, and how I like her temper, and then I'll tell you more; and in the meantime, if anybody comes to see her as they used to do, you may only tell them you have sent her out to my house.'
This was prudently managed enough, and I went to the lady's house; but I was so pleased there with the young ladies, and they so pleased with me, that I had enough to do to come away, and they were as unwilling to part with me.
However, I did come away, and lived almost a year more with my honest old woman, and began now to be very helpful to her; for I was almost fourteen years old, was tall of my age, and looked a little womanish; but I had such a taste of genteel living at the lady's house that I was not so easy in my old quarters as I used to be, and I thought it was fine to be a gentlewoman indeed, for I had quite other notions of a gentlewoman now than I had before; and as I thought, I say, that it was fine to be a gentlewoman, so I loved to be among gentlewomen, and therefore I longed to be there again.
About the time that I was fourteen years and a quarter old, my good nurse, mother I rather to call her, fell sick and died. I was then in a sad condition indeed, for as there is no great bustle in putting an end to a poor body's family when once they are carried to the grave, so the poor good woman being buried, the parish children she kept were immediately removed by the church-wardens; the school was at an end, and the children of it had no more to do but just stay at home till they were sent somewhere else; and as for what she left, her daughter, a married woman with six or seven children, came and swept it all away at once, and removing the goods, they had no more to say to me than to jest with me, and tell me that the little gentlewoman might set up for herself if she pleased.
I was frightened out of my wits almost, and knew not what to do, for I was, as it were, turned out of doors to the wide world, and that which was still worse, the old honest woman had two-and-twenty shillings of mine in her hand, which was all the estate the little gentlewoman had in the world; and when I asked the daughter for it, she huffed me and laughed at me, and told me she had nothing to do with it.
It was true the good, poor woman had told her daughter of it, and that it lay in such a place, that it was the child's money, and had called once or twice for me to give it me, but I was, unhappily, out of the way somewhere or other, and when I came back she was past being in a condition to speak of it. However, the daughter was so honest afterwards as to give it me, though at first she used me cruelly about it.
Now was I a poor gentlewoman indeed, and I was just that very night to be turned into the wide world; for the daughter removed all the goods, and I had not so much as a lodging to go to, or a bit of bread to eat. But it seems some of the neighbours, who had known my circumstances, took so much compassion of me as to acquaint the lady in whose family I had been a week, as I mentioned above; and immediately she sent her maid to fetch me away, and two of her daughters came with the maid though unsent. So I went with them, bag and baggage, and with a glad heart, you may be sure. The fright of my condition had made such an impression upon me, that I did not want now to be a gentlewoman, but was very willing to be a servant, and that any kind of servant they thought fit to have me be.
But my new generous mistress, for she exceeded the good woman I was with before, in everything, as well as in the matter of estate; I say, in everything except honesty; and for that, though this was a lady most exactly just, yet I must not forget to say on all occasions, that the first, though poor, was as uprightly honest as it was possible for anyone to be.
I was no sooner carried away, as I have said, by this good gentlewoman, but the first lady, that is to say, the Mayoress that was, sent her two daughters to take care of me; and another family which had taken notice of me when I was the little gentlewoman, and had given me work to do, sent for me after her, so that I was mightily made of, as we say; nay, and they were not a little angry, especially madam the Mayoress, that her friend had taken me away from her, as she called it; for, as she said, I was hers by right, she having been the first that took any notice of me. But they that had me would not part with me; and as for me, though I should have been very well treated with any of the others, yet I could not be better than where I was.
Here I continued till I was between seventeen and eighteen years old, and here I had all the advantages for my education that could be imagined; the lady had masters home to the house to teach her daughters to dance, and to speak French, and to write, and other to teach them music; and I was always with them, I learned as fast as they; and though the masters were not appointed to teach me, yet I learned by imitation and inquiry all that they learned by instruction and direction; so that, in short, I learned to dance and speak French as well as any of them, and to sing much better, for I had a better voice than any of them. I could not so readily come at playing on the harpsichord or spinet, because I had no instrument of my own to practice on, and could only come at theirs in the intervals when they left it, which was uncertain; but yet I learned tolerably well too, and the young ladies at length got two instruments, that is to say, a harpsichord and a spinet too, and then they taught me themselves. But as to dancing, they could hardly help my learning country-dances, because they always wanted me to make up even number; and, on the other hand, they were as heartily willing to learn me everything that they had been taught themselves, as I could be to take the learning.
By this means I had, as I have said above, all the advantages of education that I could have had if I had been as much a gentlewoman as they were with whom I lived; and in some things I had the advantage of my ladies, though they were my superiors; but they were all the gifts of nature, and which all their fortunes could not furnish. First, I was apparently handsomer than any of them; secondly, I was better shaped; and, thirdly, I sang better, by which I mean I had a better voice; in all which you will, I hope, allow me to say, I do not speak my own conceit of myself, but the opinion of all that knew the family.
I had with all these the common vanity of my sex, viz., that being really taken for very handsome, or, if you please, for a great beauty, I very well knew it, and had as good an opinion of myself as anybody else could have of me; and particularly I loved to hear anybody speak of it, which could not but happen to me sometimes, and was a great satisfaction to me.
Thus far I have had a smooth story to tell of myself, and in all this part of my life I not only had the reputation of living in a very good family, and a family noted and respected everywhere for virtue and sobriety, and for every valuable thing; but I had the character too of a very sober, modest, and virtuous young woman, and such I had always been; neither had I yet any occasion to think of anything else, or to know what a temptation to wickedness meant.
But that which I was too vain of was my ruin, or rather my vanity was the cause of it. The lady in the house where I was had two sons, young gentlemen of very promising parts and of extraordinary behaviour, and it was my misfortune to be very well with them both, but they managed themselves with me in a quite different manner.
The eldest, a gay gentleman that knew the town as well as the country, and though he had levity enough to do an ill-natured thing, yet had too much judgment of things to pay too dear for his pleasures; he began with the unhappy snare to all women, viz. taking notice upon all occasions how pretty I was, as he called it, how agreeable, how well-carriaged, and the like; and this he contrived so subtly, as if he had known as well how to catch a woman in his net as a partridge when he went a-setting; for he would contrive to be talking this to his sisters when, though I was not by, yet when he knew I was not far off but that I should be sure to hear him. His sisters
I have heard such negative reviews about this book. I have heard it said that the heroine is not likeable. She is painted as a whore and a thief. I came away with an entirely different view.
Her character hooked me from the start. A beautiful and skillful woman, she is intelligent but unworldly. She meets with great success in the beginning of the book due to her own personal accomplishments, aspirations, and personality. She takes what little she has and uses it as best she can. She keeps running into bad luck which she works hard to overcome. I just adored her.
I love everything about the book. This isn't pulp fiction. I was recently inspired listening to a cambridge professor on the radio commenting on the idea of reading for fun. He criticised the idea that we read pulp fiction for fun, and suggested that we should read good novels for fun, he suggested Anna Karenina etc. The idea struck home with me, these are well written and highly enjoyable pieces of literature, why are they often considered too hard. I read Anne Karenina recently and found it fabulous, it blew me away.
It's a first-hand look at the underside of early 18th-century life in England and the American colonies, particularly the economic constraints on women.
Defoe was a skillful writer: compare Robinson Crusoe, Journal of the Plague Year, and Moll Flanders. Each differs from the others in the handling of how Defoe presents himself as the author, how he creates a supposed narrator, and how the characters speak (or not) about themselves.
To print Moll Flanders in the original was a conscious choice on the part of the publisher — and a choice I'm not entirely certain I agree with. As I had a similar difficulty with John Cleland's Fanny Hill, let the reader beware. (Imagine trying to dig through the unedited manuscript of a contemporary writer whose writing mechanics are, to say the least, primitive, and you'll get the picture.)
That caveat notwithstanding, Moll Flanders is a grand story — and eminently worth reading — no less than Fielding's Tom Jones or John Cleland's Fanny Hill. And one of the more interesting aspects of this novel is the point of view: in this case, first-person singular. In other words, a man (Defoe) tells the story through the eyes and heart — and, however obliquely, between the legs — of a woman (Moll). Moreover, he does so — in my opinion — quite convincingly.
What is perhaps most remarkable about the author of Moll Flanders (but also of the more popular if not necessarily more notable Robinson Crusoe) is that Defoe first turned his hand to fiction only at the age of fifty-nine! One has to wonder whether he was an example and an inspiration to Benjamin Franklin, who first turned his hand to the violin at fifty-three. Who says — on the basis of this evidence — you can't teach a (smart) old dog new tricks?
Brooklyn, NY
Which is not to say I don't see where it comes into the canon: it's clearly fictional, and reminds me quite a lot of books like Go Ask Alice, only for the seventeenth century! It's interesting to observe how different things were then: the weird punctuation, random capitalisation and italicisation, the lack of chapter breaks, the lack of speech marks. Very strange to think how much the novel has evolved.
In terms of plot, it's not as shocking as I was expecting it to be given the blurb: "Moll Flanders follows the life of its eponymous heroine through its many vicissitudes which include her early seduction, careers in crime and prostitution, conviction for theft and transportation to the plantations of Virginia", etc. There's not honestly much prostitution, although she has lots of husbands, and the sex stuff is all skipped over quickly. One of the stories within the story is quite weird: the story of how she marries her brother. The theft part doesn't show up until later on, although that isn't half-hearted and a lot of her clever heists are described.
As a character, Moll gets quite a lot of depth; but at the same time, you expect that from a novel of this length that is written entirely in her head! I didn't really feel any emotional connection to her, though, and she didn't feel 'real' to me, really. I found the whole book quite boring and difficult to read. Worth a look, though, if you're interested in early novels. I could probably do a better, fuller review of this after my lecture next week -- heck, I might come back and edit some more interesting stuff in. Right now, though, I need to go off and make notes on the portrayal of women in it, before I forget!
This edition interesting for its Virginia Woolf introduction, which is mainly about Robinson Crusoe, about which she has more interesting things to say than she does Moll Flanders. The Woolf is also a nice record of a particular kind of criticism that discovered the value of a work of art in its tranhistorical truths about Human Nature. I can see easily how this same period--Woolf's that is--produced The Waste Land and Finnegans Wake, all of which also make the same profoundly ahistorical, profoundly appropriative, profoundly unethical mistake.
Defoe was many things as a writer, but "fun" isn't high up the list.
Also, check out this sentence: "She asked him if he thought she was so at her last shift that she could or ought to bear such treatment, and if he did not see that she did not want those who thought it worth their while to come farther to her than he did, meaning the gentleman she had brought to visit her by way of sham." I actually can't figure out if that sentence means anything or not. Is she saying she doesn't want the dude who was willing to travel to hit on her? Why not? Sure, he's actually like her cousin or whatever, but the dude she's talking to isn't supposed to know that...
Dude writes some over complicated sentences, is what I'm saying. I don't remember Crusoe being this convoluted.
Ah! I've been trying to figure out how Defoe writes a book with no women in it, and then a book from a woman's point of view; the similarity is that they both work from desperate places. Places of necessity.
I still need a while to process this book. Around halfway through I thought that not only did I not like it, but it made me like Robinson Crusoe less too. Now having finished it, I feel like it's a five-star book. I might bump it down to four. Defoe is sortof a humorless bastard, and he doesn't particularly get inside his characters' heads. But Moll Flanders, particularly, feels like a very subversive book to me. Moll insists on taking control of her life. Men certainly come off as insignificant at best.
I didn't love the Signet Classic edition I read; it was sorta...little. I like my books to be weightier and more important looking. (And, incidentally, the used copy I ordered came with random passages underlined, which drives me nuts.) Did have a fairly good afterword, though. Although it threatened to spoil like six other 18-century books I'm about to read, so I had to skip whole paragraphs.


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This Buenos Aires' flat just oozes charm. It is a perfect example of curating and personalizing objects that speak to you and making them work in your space. The repetition of red thoughout the flat ties everything together neatly, so that the eclectic feel looks curated not cluttered. This is also a fantastic example of working with your space - Jorge and Veronica, the owners of the flat, chose to feature the original wall seen above, rather than painting it, and the apartment still has many original features, such as the stained glass, wood floors, and marble steps (see below).
The repetition of the red stools and the red lamps is fantastic, and those shelves just kill me! I am most definitely not the type for kitchen display shelves. Mine are more the type where things fall out at you when you open them!
Another view of the kitchen. Concrete floors are an excellent eco finish, as they help to keep your home warm/cool. I am also in absolute love with concrete countertops. We work with concrete artisans at my store, and they are just beautiful. Definitely on my kitchen wish list. In fact, we just finished a beauty cabinet with a concrete top. I'll share pictures with you soon!
More salvage chic. The symmetry of the lamp shades and artwork keep the space tidy and considered.
Also a great example of mixing your peices.
Those high ceilings and windows... Jorge and Veronica are great salvagers!
One thing I noticed when I travelled in Greece was the abundance of marble.... it's like brick to them, and is absolutely everywhere. I loved it and was in constant awe of it. Such as this solid carrerra staircase. The juxtaposition of traditional and modern is very obvious here, another thread that ties together Jorge and Veronica's flat.
Have I mentioned Argentina is on my must-see list?
All images via mixr.

subset: commoncrawl


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I have had the most beautiful weekend in the Ozark Mountains, spending time with my sister and doing a lot of yoga. I'll tell you all about it, but in the mean time, here is a super simple weeknight dinner recipe.
Awhile back, I was strolling through the isles at Whole Foods when this popped out at me. Forbidden rice RAMEN?! Yes, I will have some of that, please. Forbidden rice is a tasty, highly nutritious grain that I discovered in college. To have it in noodle form sounded amazing, so I decided to cook up a bowl.
This is a really simple dish, perfect for a weeknight or a weekend night when you don't want to cook. I made this up a few weeks back after a long day of yard work. I needed something hot, nutritious and spicy!
Spicy Black Ramen Bowl
1 serving black ramen noodles
1/2 package wild wood sprouted tofu, cubed
2 cups chopped baby portabellos
1 tsp olive oil
1 jalapeno, de-seeded and chopped small
1/4 cup raw cashews
2 tbs sesame seeds
1/2 cup broccoli straws
1 cup vegetable stock
2 tbs tamari
- Cook ramen noodles in water, per package instructions.
- While ramen is cooking, chop veggies.
- Warm a medium sauce pan on medium/high heat.
- Heat oil in pan.
- Add mushrooms and jalapeno and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Once ramen is done, drain and rinse with cold water.
- Add ramen, vegetable stock, tamari, cashews and tofu to pot.
- Bring to boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Transfer to serving bowl, sprinkle sesame seeds and broccoli straws.
- Enjoy!
Note: If you don't want it so spicy, omit or decrease jalapeno. If you want to take it up a knotch, squirt some sriracha on top of your finished bowl!
As you can see, this dinner was accompanied by a nice glass of wine. This is the one and only bottle I've had since the Arbonne detox. While it was nice, it took me quite awhile to drink it, and I didn't want to make it a weekend habit.
Easy peasy, delicious dinner to make up any time of year! The black rice is incredibly flavorful, just the perfect amount of stick, and filling. The broccoli straws on top are a nice contrast in texture. Give it a try!
Have you tried black ramen yet?
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with the products mentioned. I will always tell you if I do.


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Last call for Oprah gear.
Not only is the "Queen of Talk" ending her show and leaving Chicago, her flagship West Loop store is going kaput as well.
The Chicago Tribune reports that The Oprah Store, located across from Harpo Studios at 37 N. Carpenter Street, will close in June. A Harpo spokesman confirmed that a Water Tower Place kiosk will also be gone in May.
The 5,500 square foot store opened in 2008. It offers everything from souvenir items to luxury apparel and Oprah's Closet, a wardrobe filled with items once worn by Winfrey.
The Oprah Winfrey Show winds down at the end of May. The programs will be taped at the United Center May 17th.
Oprah's Store Also Leaving West Loop
Store to close shortly after talk show wraps
Last call for Oprah gear.


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About Us
Shootmaniac.net is developed from the idea that a small community needs one centralized hub. The community, for the teams, and sponsors all need one highly centralized location. We aim to build this centralized hub through high quality content production, tournaments, and community growing activities. Our content is delivered through a variety of mediums aimed at many of the currently fractured community segments; videos, blogs, community news, developer news, product reviews, professional tips and guidance, event coordination, tournaments, and more. Shootmaniac.net is a free flowing project and is aimed molding to the community in a fashion that will produce a very beneficial long term relationship. At the core of our website is the fundamental belief that our users should feel at home, not only with items dealing directly with Shootmania but in general.
Andre 'Precise' Rowe
CEO & Founder, Shootmaniac
Precise was born on the 4th Jan 1986 on the West Indian island of Jamaica. At the age of twelve he moved to away from the island to the United States. After completing High School he enlisted in the United States Armed forces where he served 5 years. Precise completed my term and received an honorable discharge.
Conor 'Jus7addwater' Parker
Content Manager, Shootmaniac
I am Irish born and raised, at the age of 25 I have had a long history in e-Sports. I got my start in Tribes 2 playing for a variety of low level teams before moving onto the Call of Duty series. It was there that I not only climbed the ranks on a skill based level, but that I also found a love for community involvement. I got involved with a casting company known as EGLN. From that stage I stuck with casting and over an 8 year period covered 15 different titles and handled over 4,000 broadcasts as a content manager as well as 830 as a in game caster.
Bernardo 'Wikes' Domingues
Wikes was born and raise in Portugal. He has had a long history in gaming, sinking his teeth into the FPS scene with Counter Strike 1.3. After playing FPS games for few years he eventually lost his taste for the genre and moved onto MMO's. He started his love affair with WoW and eventually became a 'hardcore' raider. When he learned about Shootmania he decided to give the FPS scene another chance and he has never looked back. He started a community web site called Shootmania Hub which eventually merge with what is now Shootmaniac.net.
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Breakthrough is Now!
Posture Yourself for Breakthrough
Breakthrough is a key word for this season and we have gathered some teachings regarding Breakthrough to help bring you to a complete victory in Jesus! Have your faith expanded and your life impacted by laying hold of some practical steps to bring breakthrough in your life and the lives around you!
Your Instructor
Patricia King is a respected apostolic minister of the gospel, successful business owner, and an inventive entrepreneur. She is an accomplished itinerant speaker, author, television host, media producer, and ministry network overseer who has given her life fully to Jesus Christ and to His Kingdom's advancement in the earth. She is the founder of XP Ministries and co-founder of XPmedia.com.
Speaker, author and media host, Robert ministers with Patricia King and XP Ministries. He fervently believes every Christian is a miracle-working explosion of the Kingdom waiting to happen. His preaching, teaching, and ministry inspires believers to grab hold of their restored relationship with the Father through the finished work of the cross and walk the earth as Jesus did – destroying every work of darkness everywhere they go!
Robert is a passionate lover of Jesus Christ and that passion is truly contagious! He ministers with strong faith, releasing revelation, prophetic decrees, healings, miracles, and the love of God. He is a true carrier of the glory and revival. People have been healed, refreshed, set free, and empowered through his life. He believes for heaven to impact lives and regions everywhere he goes.
Course Curriculum
StartFavor for Breakthrough - Patricia King - Video (8:32)
StartThree Keys for your Breakthrough - Patricia King - Video (0:38)
StartHow to Go to your Next Level - Patricia King - Video (31:49)
StartPower Tongues for Breakthrough - Patricia King - VIdeo (2:06)
StartBreakthrough & Restoration - Patricia King - Video (31:53)
StartMy God of Breakthrough - Patricia King - Video (34:34)
Start17 Words for 2017 - Patricia King - PDF


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Project Details
Rosario brings over 10 years of hands-on experience guiding early stage startups and fast-growing organizations in the areas of Human Resources, Administration, Facilities, Finance and Accounting. Prior to joining FixStream, Rosario led startups from the ground up establishing administrative and finance infrastructures including systems, policies, and procedures. She managed all human resources functions, benefits, vendor relations including legal counsel, accountants, and bankers, contract negotiations, administration of legal matters, budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, cash flow management, audits, due diligence to secure funding. She successfully completed audits, series of funding, and acquisition transactions. She is fluent in Chinese and Spanish and has a working knowledge of French. She enjoys languages, skiing, spinning, hiking, gourmet cooking, fine wine and dining.


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618 West Ave
Norwalk, CT 06850
Janet West, Vice President
Barbara Mueller-Marquez MSN, APRN has been caring for the HIV population for 25 years and is passionate and committed to the population we serve at MFAP.
Barbara Crudup, Secretary
Joanne Montgomery, President
Janet West currently works as a Vice President at Fairfield County Bank. She is actively involved with MFAP as Vice-President of the Board, Norwalk Community Health Center and Elderhouse, Girls Scouts of America
Tami Strauss has 27 years of private, public and non-profit experience in urban planning, commercial real estate investment, grant-writing and project management. In her current role at the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency, Ms. Strauss oversees planning activities and studies in Norwalk's urban core, administers the Agency's residential rehabilitation loan portfolio, and manages the community improvements associated with Norwalk's Choice Neighborhood Initiative grant from HUD.
Christopher Spiegelman, Member
Tami Strauss, Member
Joanne Montgomery, LADC, LMSW has worked in the behavioral health field for over 20 years and is passionate and committed to the population we serve at MFAP. Joanne has extensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS, Homelessness, Substance Abuse and Mental Health disorders. Joanne has been on our board for many years and is currently the board president for MFAP.
My Philosophy
I am a Globalist
We must take care of Mother Earth
and help others in need.
Barbara Mueller-Marquez, Member
Randolph (Wally) Meyer, Treasurer
Chris Spiegelman is an avid volunteer for all LGBTQ causes and has served on several boards. He has over 28 years experience in alternative investment fund taxation and is currently a Managing Director at Andersen Tax in Greenwich. Chris has served on the board of MFAP for 8 years and is committed to the community MFAP serves.
Board of Directors
MFAP is looking for dedicated individuals who would be interested in serving on our board. If you would like to share your knowledge, experience, and skills please contact our executive director Stuart Lane


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Gonzo The Great
The Film: Muppets From Space (1999)
The Weirdo: Everyone's favourite trumpet-playing daredevil, Gonzo is the weirdo's weirdo, a hook-nosed oddball with a bizarre attraction to chickens.
Although his origins had always sounded a bit unconventional (according to The Muppets Take Manhattan , he spent his early years living in a New York cement mixer), Muppets From Space finally explained where poor old Gonzo came from. He's an alien you see! How does he communicate with his people? Um, through his breakfast cereal of course...
Oddest Quirk: His bizarre routines on The Muppet Show . Defusing a highly explosive bomb whilst reciting from the works of Percy Bysshe Shelley springs too mind.
Willy Wonka
The Film: Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (2005)
The Weirdo: Whilst Gene Wilder played Wonka as genial eccentric, Johnny Depp's creepy confectioner is a far more sinister creation. Roald Dahl's character is already unsettling enough on paper, a child-hating chocolate magnate whose shadowy factory is run by a legion of spandex-clad midgets.
Factor in a Depp performance channelling Michael Jackson at his strangest, and the border between fantasy and nightmare becomes blurred indeed.
Oddest Quirk: Reacts to industrial accidents with worrying satisfaction.
Jesus Quintana
The Film: The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Weirdo: The strangest fish in a movie crammed full of oddballs, Quintana (or "The Jesus", as he prefers to be known) is the obscenely competitive and sexually dubious bowling enthusiast who serves as nemesis to Jeff Bridges' laid back Dude.
A suspected paedophile boasting an array of oddly sexual threats ("I would have fucked you in the ass Saturday. I fuck you in the ass next Wednesday instead. Woo, you got a date Wednesday baby!"), he would be terrifying but for that preposterous cod-Cuban accent. Dios mio, man!
Oddest Quirk: Fetish-like relationship with his bowling ball. Those holes are for your fingers Jesus…
Edward Scissorhands
The Film: Edward Scissorhands (1990)
The Weirdo: Cobbled together in his late father's lab from bits of old pig iron, Edward isn't your common or garden teenager. After a lonely adolescence spent pottering around his old mansion, he's got no social skills, common sense or the merest hint of a tan.
He's more or less mute, dresses year-round in black and his only hobby is ice-sculpting. Weird enough for you? No? Well he's also got metal blades for hands! There, we said it…
Oddest Quirk: That hairdo is a bit…no, alright, it's the hands. Definitely the hands.
Ricky Fitts
The Film: American Beauty (1999)
The Weirdo: Just who you want living next door, a social misfit with a video-camera. Wes Bentley's creepy kid might turn out to be a fairly decent sort, but that hundred-yard stare is, well, a bit rapey. Plus, filming a plastic bag blowing in the wind isn't enigmatic, it's just strange.
"Sometimes," says Ricky, "there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in." We hear you Rick, but put the gun down eh, there's a good lad…
Oddest Quirk: Tries to impress his girlfriend by offering to kill her old man. Whatever happened to a nice bunch of flowers?
Lars Lindstrom
The Film: Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
The Weirdo: Poor old Lars is a painfully shy recluse, living alone in his late father's converted garage. Living alone that is, until new girlfriend Bianca comes to stay! Thing is, Bianca was made in Taiwan and arrived in a cardboard box.
She may be anatomically correct, but Lars isn't interested in any man-on-plastic action, he just wants a bit of company. After all, "sometimes I get so lonely, I forget what day it is and how to spell my name." Aaah, bless.
Oddest Quirk: Still wanders round with a baby blanket his mother knitted. And the whole doll thing is a bit unnerving, obviously…
Pee-Wee Herman
The Film: Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985)
The Weirdo: From the same stable of gibbering man-children as Mr. Bean, comes rubber-faced goon Pee-Wee, a supremely irritating half-wit obsessed with a missing bicycle. Loveable nincompoop, or giggling lunatic?
Witness him barking like a dog at his own reflection, toothpaste and spit dribbling down his chin…yeah, we're going with giggling lunatic. One of the strangest characters to inhabit a Burton film, and that's saying something.
Oddest Quirk: That bowtie. Combined with the wild eyes and the gaping grin…terrifying.
Teddy Brewster
The Film: Arsenic And Old Lace (1944)
The Weirdo: The deranged brother of Cary Grant's suave bachelor Mortimer, Teddy is a chronically deluded shut-in, labouring under the impression that he's actually Theodore Roosevelt. In fairness to him, he's not the only fruitcake in the family, living as he does with a pair of old aunts with a penchant for offing their gentleman callers.
Happily for them Teddy is a dab hand at burying the bodies, believing that he's burying yellow-fever victims in the Panama canal. As you do.
Oddest Quirk: Yells "Charge" every time he climbs the stairs, a la Roosevelt at the San Juan Hill. One in every family, eh?
Max Fischer
The Film: Rushmore (1998)
The Weirdo: When does "precocious" spill over into just plain weird? An extraordinarily keen participant in Rushmore Academy's extracurricular activities (calligraphy club, debate team and beekeeping society, to name a few), Max is clearly a bit eccentric, if not quite certifiable.
It's his obsession with teacher Olivia Williams that tips the scales however, ending up with his release of a swarm of bees into love-rival Bill Murray's hotel room, not to mention cutting the breaks on his car.
Oddest Quirk: The plays he writes and directs for the Max Fischer Players. One is accompanied by a pair of safety goggles and some earplugs.
Alan Garner
The Film: The Hangover (2009)
The Weirdo: You might think big baby Alan is too sweet-natured to be included on a list of big-screen fruit-loops. Then again, you might recall that he spikes his friends' drinks with rohypnol. And that he's legally barred from being within 200 yards of a school. And that this isn't the first time he's "found" a baby. And that he mentions plans to attend a Jonas Brothers concert.
He may be loveable but he's a fully paid-up oddball of the first degree. Case closed.
Oddest Quirk: His childlike singing. All together now, "We're the best three friends, that anyone could have!"


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There is something about secret societies that make us immensely distrust them and undeniably fascinated with them at the same time. Even if we have no interest in being a part of one, we can't seem to shake off the inherent curiosity we have to get to know as much as we can about them. Many of us regard these covert organizations as an elite selection of individuals who have more than enough wealth, power, and influence to further their own self-interests to the detriment of the rest of the world. We view them as a faceless evil lurking in the shadows, dictating the ways of the world and quietly enslaving most of the human society through their cunning schemes and careful plotting.
This negative view on secret societies is largely founded on our natural wariness of anything shrouded with mystery and perpetuated by dozens of conspiracy theories about these organizations that have sprung up over the years. While we can't say for certain whether or not some of these secret societies are guilty of surreptitiously trying to rule the world, we can confirm that hundreds of these groups have indeed been established across the globe to serve grand social, political and religious agendas. Some of these institutions date back to several centuries and even a thousand years. Many of them had long since been disbanded but a few of these old clandestine orders continue to exist today.
Here are five of the oldest secret societies you may or may not know about.
1. Illuminati
Probably the most well-known and most infamous secret society on this list, the Illuminati historically refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, a secret society of freethinkers formed during the era of Enlightenment in the late 18th century. It was founded by Adam Weishaupt on May 1, 1776, and its objectives were to oppose the deliberate restriction of knowledge dissemination of that time; to decrease the influence of superstition and religion over public matters, and to stand against those who abuse state power. Though they were not legally permitted to form an organization, a large number of intellectuals and politicians was a part of this secret group, with some freemasons even joining the fray. Internal dissent and the government's effort to expose the group and disband it completely led to the Illuminati's collapse before the end of the 18th century.
While the original Bavarian Illuminati is long gone, several fraternal organizations that exist today claim to have descended from the original members of the 18th-century Illuminati and openly use the name for their own organizations. Conspiracy theorists, however, insist that the real Illuminati organization was not completely quashed and that its members for the past few centuries have orchestrated a variety of historical events to control global society and to establish a "New World Order" governed by atheist and humanist principles. Some have even gone so far as to say that the Illuminati are also Satan worshippers who are furtively plotting to bring the Antichrist into power.
2. The Freemasonry
The Freemasonry is a "not-so-secret" secret society whose presence is still widely felt worldwide today ever since the First Grand Masonic Lodge was founded in London back in 1717. While the existence of Freemasonry is public knowledge for the past few centuries, the group has managed to maintain its exclusivity and has kept most of its practices and activities under wraps. They refer to god as "The Great Architect of the Universe," and they are known to use various architectural symbols. They strictly observe a ritualized style in conducting their meetings, and it is said that Masons are taught secret signs and handshakes that will help them identify fellow Masons.
The challenges of being a part of the Masonry does not end with a confirmed membership to the group. The organization observes a gradual and graded membership system. Initially, the Masonry only had two membership levels – the first and the second degree. However, in the 1750s, a third degree was introduced – a move which was met with outrage and led to the group's split at the time. Today, the three degrees of Masonry are the Entered Apprentice, the Fellow Craft, and the Master Mason. Being an Entered Apprentice equates to a basic membership to the organization. A Fellow Craft is required to pursue furthering his knowledge of masonry. Finally, achieving the degree of a Master Mason means being able to be a part of various Masonic activities.
3. The Rosicrucian Order
Said to have been founded by Christian Rosenkreuz back in the early 15th century, this secret society is regarded as one of the oldest ones ever formed. The order's official symbol is a rose on a cross, and initially, the organization was just a very small circle of doctors who are also sworn bachelors. Each member of this secret society took a vow to always tend to the sick, maintain the strength of the secret fellowship, and to select a suitable disciple to replace him in the event of death.
The Rosicrucians ultimate objective as a group is the "universal reformation of mankind," and to them, this meant turning to occultism as well as other religious beliefs and practices. Members of this secret society essentially believed that they possessed secret knowledge that have been passed on to them from the "esoteric truths of the ancient past" about "nature, the physical universe and the spiritual realm."
The secret Rosicrucian Order reached the peak of its glory during the 17th century with the publication of the group's three manifestos. All of Europe was fascinated with the revelation of the existence of a covert brotherhood of sages and alchemists who were dedicated to transforming the political and intellectual landscape of the continent through the arts, sciences and religion. There are even rumors that this secret society was the hidden force operating behind every major war or revolution that occurred for the last several centuries.
4. The Hashashin
Also known as the Nizari Ismailis, the Hashashin was an enigmatic order composed of Muslim assassins that operated during the medieval period in the Middle East. This secret organization was formed by Shia Muslims who separated from a larger sect and decided to form a coalition in the late 11th century in hopes of building a utopian Shi'ite state. The Nizari did not have a large army so the group had to resort to various tactics like psychological warfare and orchestrating assassinations to accomplish their goals and defeat their enemies. While the term "assassins" refers to the medieval Nizari sect as a whole, those who actually complete the assassination missions are referred to as the "fida'i." By using these warriors, they managed to eliminate many of the sect's enemies, including caliphs, sultans as well as the leaders of the Crusaders of that period.
The Hashashin met its downfall at the hands of the Mongol Empire in the late 13th century, permanently losing their political power and influence as an organized sect. With the destruction of the Nizari, the remaining members of the fida'i class found a means to survive using their skillset by operating as contract killers. It is said that they charged a fixed rate for their services and were employed as mercenaries by various rulers. Records about the Nizari Ismailis has been lost or destroyed so much of what we know about them today is labeled by experts as more legend and myth than real facts.
5. The Brethren of Purity
The oldest and the most mysterious secret society on this list, the Brethren of Purity was formed around the 8th or 10th century by Muslim philosophers in Barsa, which is located in modern-day Iraq. Not much is known about this organization's structure as well as the identities of its members in the past. However, they may have been followers of Shiism – a branch of the Islam religion which holds on to the belief that the prophet Muhammad had selected Ali ibn Abi Talib to succeed his position.
The Brethren of Purity followed a hierarchy with four levels: the "Craftsmen," the Political Leaders," the "Kings," and the highest is the rank of "Prophets and Philosophers." Members of the Brethren had also compiled a massive compendium titled the "Epistles of the Brethren of Purity," which contains the organization's esoteric teachings and philosophy on fifty-two treatises, including theology, natural sciences, mathematics and psychology.
The Brethren also strictly observed their rituals and traditions, especially on how their meetings are scheduled and how they are conducted. For example, they regularly held meetings for three evenings every month. The first meeting is set in the beginning of the month during which speeches were given. The second meeting is scheduled in the middle of the month, and it is allotted for topics about astronomy and astrology. And the third meeting is around the end of the month during which members of the order would recite hymns rich in philosophical wisdom. They also held feasts and lectures.
It cannot be said for certain whether the Brethren of Purity has completely been disbanded or if a branch of this secret society remains active to this day. At present, a large number of Muslim and Western scholars have made it their mission to identify the members of the Brethren of Purity and establish the period or century in which they were most active.
The five organizations we have just enumerated are just a few examples of dozens of mysterious secret societies that have been formed for the last thousand years. Most of these old elite orders have long been abolished or exposed, and those that remain until today no longer conduct most of their business in the shadows.
But can we say with absolute certainty that secret societies like the original Illuminati and the Hashashin no longer exist today? It's hard to be that confident. And even if they're really gone for good, many contemporary elitist groups and mysterious organizations have already taken their place. They might go by different names now, but their objectives are perhaps not so different from those that came before. Maybe these faceless entities are still trying to change the world but the manner in which they try to do so has already changed as well.
- http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/the-biggest/new-world-order-the-5-oldest-secret-societies/
- http://elitedaily.com/life/culture/10-elite-secret-societies-history/
- https://www.ancient-code.com/here-are-3-of-the-worlds-most-mysterious-secret-societies/
- https://www.ancient-code.com/the-five-most-influential-secret-societies-in-history/
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-grecian/the-most-exclusive-secret_b_5398914.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminati
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rosicrucians
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassins
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brethren_of_Purity


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We develop an intuitive approach for studying propagation of optical pulses through nonlinear dispersive media. Our new approach is based on the impulse response of linear systems, but we extend the impulse response function using a self-consistent time-transformation approach so that it can be applied to nonlinear media as well. Numerical calculations based on our new approach show excellent agreement with the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation in the specific case of the Kerr nonlinearity in both the normal and anomalous dispersion regimes. An important feature of our approach is that it works directly with the electric field associated with an optical pulse and can be applied to pulses of arbitrary width. Numerical calculations performed using single-cycle optical pulses show that our results agree with those obtained with the finite-difference time-domain technique using considerably more computing resources.
© 2012 Optical Society of AmericaFull Article | PDF Article
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BERLIN — France's finance minister, Pierre Moscovici, warned on Tuesday against caricatures and misunderstandings over Germany's handling of the euro crisis, but quickly qualified his conciliatory statement about the European Union's most powerful country.
"There is one subject where Germany's image is certainly bad," Mr. Moscovici told an auditorium full of students at the Free University in Berlin. "Germany wins too often at soccer, particularly now in the Champions League."
Europe's equivalent of the Super Bowl does not kick off for more than two weeks, but in a development that feels all too fitting under the current circumstances here, Germany has already won. Two German clubs, one from Dortmund in the Ruhr Valley and the other from Munich in deepest Bavaria, will face off for the European title, which means the nationality of the champion is already assured.
The local news media are calling it the "dream final." The daily newspaper Berliner Kurier summed up the mood in Germany perfectly in a front-page headline last week that read simply, "We versus us."
"One thing is certain," Chancellor Angela Merkel said. "Germany wins."
Of course, a game is just a game, but when the game in question is European soccer, it tends to be viewed as a Rorschach test for the health and confidence of nations. The success on the field of German teams has helped reinforce the broader narrative of Teutonic dominance that has emerged during the long-running debt crisis.
Germany's stock market is riding high, its unemployment rate has remained stubbornly low and the Continent's best and brightest are moving here in droves. Attitudes toward Germany in Europe are more complicated than they would seem from the images of angry protesters waving signs with swastikas on the streets of Athens.
Germany, Europe's largest economy, is viewed not only with resentment but with a mixture of apprehension, envy and admiration, informed by a belief that the Germans have cracked the code of how to compete in the globalized world, coupled with an uncertainty about whether their efficient, export-driven economic model can be replicated.
Much the same is true currently with soccer. After Bayern trounced Barcelona for the second time in a row last week, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera wrote that "the lesson of order and talent goes beyond soccer." In Britain, the cover of the New Statesman magazine this week shows photographs of Angela Merkel and the German soccer star Bastian Schweinsteiger with the question, "Why can't we be more like Germany?"
Just this past weekend Spain's Socialists discussed the German model for helping companies pay for idled workers to stay home without laying them off. "There is resentment at the current austerity policies attributed to Merkel," said Jordi Vaquer i Fanés, a political scientist and director of the Open Society Initiative for Europe in Barcelona, "but Germany still comes out at the top of the most admired countries."
Europeans are voting with their feet: Germany's government statistics office reported Tuesday that the net gain in migration here in 2012 was the largest in 17 years. Nearly 1.1 million people moved to Germany last year, with rising numbers of job seekers arriving from crisis-stricken countries and Eastern Europe. Nationwide, unemployment is just 5.4 percent, and on Tuesday Germany's main stock index, the benchmark DAX, hit an all-time high.
Spain is losing not just engineers and software designers to Germany, but players and coaches. Pep Guardiola, Barcelona's former coaching genius, announced this year that he would move to Germany to coach Bayern. A decade ago the idea of a coach like Mr. Guardiola leaving Spain for Germany would have seemed absurd.
That is because not so long ago the positions were reversed. Germany was struggling to regain its footing after unification, and its soccer fortunes declined badly. The economy was stagnant and, with its rules against foreign ownership and insistence on keeping debts low, the professional soccer league Bundesliga seemed downright old-fashioned.
German teams, it was believed, would never keep up with the Russian oligarchs and Arab billionaires sinking untold millions into their investments in England's Premier League. The Spaniards, meanwhile, were flush and booming, like much of Europe's periphery.
Long before the financial crisis brought high-flying economies like Spain's back to earth, Germany began plotting a comeback, economically speaking, instituting labor reforms aimed at making the economy more competitive. On the soccer side, it began building up a new youth training system.
"I don't want to point the moralizing finger, saying, 'We're super; we're saving the euro,' " said Martin Nolte, a professor of sports law at the German Sport University Cologne. "We make mistakes here in Germany, too, but the professionalism and management from the economic side leads to a solid athletic effort."
The daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, in a self-congratulatory front-page editorial last week, credited an openness to the world and a willingness to learn from others, matched with "German virtues" like fighting spirit and solidarity. "Professional soccer is also a mirror of economic possibilities," the paper wrote. "In this manner the Bundesliga benefits from Germany's economic strengths over Europe's crisis countries."
Rightly or wrongly, a sense here and abroad of German teams and businesses as farsighted and built for stability has taken root. In his State of the Union address this year, President Obama even praised Germany's dual-education system, mixing hands-on training at businesses with course work.
But the easy comparisons between economic and soccer success can be overdone, many experts say.
"Everyone wants to hold up Germany as the perfectly run antidote to the sloppiness of the southern Europeans, and the Bundesliga is kind of treated as this analogue to the German national economy," said Franklin Foer, editor of The New Republic and author of the book "How Soccer Explains the World."
"There's some truth to it, I think," Mr. Foer said, though he cautioned that "many of the great clubs and the great national teams come from countries in which the economies are run in slipshod ways and the local systems are a mess."
John Springford, an economist at the Center for European Reform in London, said the winner-take-all aspect of soccer could also be troublesome for Europe as it battles the debt crisis.
"The euro crisis has been dominated by that narrative of competitiveness," Mr. Springford said. "That kind of zero-sum thinking that is analogous to the football mentality is one of the reasons why it's been so difficult to create a lasting solution to the euro crisis."
Germany may have won the championship before the opening whistle, but it is not clear that it will be a "dream final" for the rest of the Continent.
"Because the league is so well managed it means there's less flashy expenditure," Mr. Foer said. "There's a little less internationalism there. The modesty and competence that underlie the whole thing also constrain it from being as sexy as Spain or England."


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Erowa Holder ER-035209 Prisround Compatible Stainless S15 D72
The MAXX Brand ER-035209 is designed mount electrodes and workpieces with shafts of up to square S15 mm Pocket Size 15.5MM
Precision ground high performance tooling, 100% match to your existing Erowa tooling.
Material: Stainless Steel, corrosion-resistant
Repeat accuracy 0.002 mm
For use with EROWA handling systems or electrode changers.
Can be produced in 3R Macro as well
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Tuesday, October 2, 2012
1. The Worries and Hopes of Youth
...I would like all of you to experience the satisfaction of having accomplished something -- it doesn't matter what -- in your own way and capacity, even if it's something as simple as cleaning, participating in club activities, doing volunteer work or whatever. The main thing is to be satisfied knowing that you've contributed something, that you've done your best. Please become individuals of whom others can say with admiration: "There is something different about him that sets him apart" or "She is someone I can really respect."
Press forward in the midst of problems
... Please do not allow yourselves to succumb to negativity and cynicism. Suffering is to be found in any era. Youth is a time of problems, pain and confusion.
And grades are probably not the only source of worry or anguish you face. You may have problems at home, with your health, with how you feel about your looks, with members of the opposite sex or with friends. Feelings of pain, insecurity, frustration and sadness may assail you. Youth means grappling with all kinds of problems. It means resolving them, in spite of all difficulties, pushing aside the dark clouds of despair and advancing toward the sun, toward hope. This strength is the hallmark of youth.
Having problems, making mistakes or feeling regrets is only natural. What's important is to be undefeated by them. In the midst of worries and struggles, always look forward and advance.
Suppose you are lost in the jungle. You want to find your way out and reach the ocean but don't know which way to go. What do you do? The answer is to keep moving ahead, taking a course that leads to a river. If you follow the river downstream, you will eventually reach the ocean.
A great leader is a friend to the suffering
... A famous person once told his son, "Your grades can be mediocre, but please become a person of outstanding character." Greatness as a human being is not determined by educational background or social position. Even people who graduate from top universities may engage in criminal activities. And there are some among the so-called elite who are overbearing and arrogant. I want I want to foster leaders, not elitists.
A truly great person is a friend to those in suffering, pain and misery. Such a person can be called a leader of the new century.
More often than not in today's society, the suffering and disadvantaged are ostracized, despised and pushed to the margins. Many of our current leaders are guilty of doing this. This is deplorable mistake.
Study should be for the purpose of finding a way to help those who are suffering. Many leaders today, however, look down on them and only add to their misery. There is no society as cruel, arrogant, cold or cowardly as ours.
(Not getting into a school of first choice)
Not attending the school of your choice may certainly be disappointing. But viewed in the long term and from the essential point of study, it doesn't really matter that you graduate from a well-known school.
... Mr Toda: "Become an inspiration for those who cannot attend good schools." Those who start out under difficult circumstances and go on to become first-rate individuals can be sources of hope and inspiration for many. Pelase remember always that academic background isn't everything.
At any rate, since you have been accepted to a school -- even if it is not your first choice and regardless of how society judges it -- it's important to decide that the place where you are is the very best, that it is the perfect place for you to learn all you want. This way of thinking is far more constructive and beneficial in the long t=run.
It's foolish to allow your confidence to be undermined by the opinions of others. You are all in your teens; limitless possibilities are open to all of you.
(The obove is excerpted from Discussions on Youth by Daisaku Ikeda, pg 6)
Takeaways from "Discussion on Youth"
Preface by SGI President Ikeda
Editor's Note
Part One: The Hopes of Youth
1. The Worries and Hopes of Youth
2. Youth: A time to challenge
3. Friendship and Perspectives on life
Part Two: The Heartbeat of Youth
4. What is Love?
5. Finding Happiness in Your Work
6. What is a Global Citizen?ddddddddd
7. Bridging Out your Best
8. What is Kindness?
9. The essence of human rights
Part Three: Youth and Self-Improvement
10. The Joy of Reading
11. Knowing History is Knowing Yourself
12. Appreciating Art and Culture
13. Dialogue with Nature
14. Discovering Great Literature
Part Four: Youth and Faith
15. Why Do We Chant Every Day?
16. Why Do We Have an Organization?
17. Weaving the Fabric of Peace
Part Five: The Questions of Youth
18. What is Freedom?
19. What is Individuality?
20. What is the Power of Prayer?
Part Six: Youth and the Future
21. What is a Good Friend?
22. It Takes Courage
23. Why are the Good Despised?
24. Why Go to College?
Part Seven: The Energy of Youth
25. Life and Death Are One
Appendix A: You are the Hope of the World
Appendix B: Youth are struggling between problems and hopes
Friday, April 27, 2012
The Power of Nonviolence
Dr. Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and founder of the M.K.
Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, in his June 9 lecture at the University of
Puerto Rico, shared the following story as an example of nonviolence in
"I was 16 years old and living with my parents at the institute my
grandfather had founded 18 miles outside of Durban, South Africa, in
the middle of the sugar plantations. We were deep in the country and had no
neighbors, so my two sisters and I would always look forward to going
to town to visit friends or go to the movies. One day, my father asked me
to drive him to town for an all-day conference, and I jumped at the
"Since I was going to town, my mother gave me a list of groceries she
needed and, since I had all day in town, my father ask me to take care of
several pending chores, such as getting the car serviced. When I dropped my
father off that morning, he said, "I will meet you here at 5:00 p.m., and we will go home together."
"After hurriedly completing my chores, I went straight to the nearest
movie theatre. I got so engrossed in a John Wayne double-feature that I
forgot the time. It was 5:30 before I remembered. By the time I ran to the garage and got the car and hurried to where my father was waiting for me, it was almost 6:00.
"He anxiously asked me, 'Why were you late?" I was so ashamed of
telling him I was watching a John Wayne western movie that I said, 'The car wasn't ready, so I had to wait," not realizing that he had already called the
"When he caught me in the lie, he said: "There's something wrong in the
way I brought you up that didn't give you the confidence to tell me the
truth. In order to figure out where I went wrong with you, I'm going to walk
home 18 miles and think about it."
"So, dressed in his suit and dress shoes, he began to walk home in the
dark on mostly unpaved, unlit roads. I couldn't leave him, so for
five-and-a-half hours I drove behind him, watching my father go through this agony for a stupid lie that I uttered. I decided then and there that I was never
going to lie again.
"I often think about that episode and wonder, if he had punished me the
way we punish our children, whether I would have learned a lesson at all. I
don't think so. I would have suffered the punishment and gone on doing
the same thing. But this single nonviolent action was so powerful that it
is still as if it happened yesterday. That is the power of nonviolence."
By Dr. Arun Gandhi
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Not being blessed with material wealth in your youth is not a shame, but a source of pride
A great goal makes for a great man
Saturday, March 31, 2012
whether you have that determination and courage or not to live or a greater purpose In that is revealed your true worth as a person.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Religions should unite the potential for good in people's hearts toward benefiting society and humanity and creating a better future.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Youth should actively seek out challenges and hardships
-- Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
There is no such thing as a life without trials and tribulations
-- Daisaku Ikeda