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• There came to the beach a poor exile of Erin, The dew on his thin robe was heavy and chill
  For his country he sigh'd, when at twilight repairing To wander alone by the wind-beaten hill....
• An apt and true reply was given to Alexander the Great by a pirate who had been seized.
  For when that king had asked the man what he meant by keeping hostile possession of the sea, he answered with bold pride....
• WAR, n. A by-product of the arts of peace. The most menacing political condition is a period of international amity.
  The student of history who has not been taught to expect the unexpected may justly boast himself inaccessible to the light....
• HADES, n. The lower world; the residence of departed spiri
  he place where the dead live. Among the ancients the idea of Hades was not synonymous with our Hell, many of the most respectable men of antiquity residing there in a very comfortable kind of way....
• MEDAL, n. A small metal disk given as a reward for virtues, attainments or services more or less authentic.
  It is related of Bismark, who had been awarded a medal for gallantly rescuing a drowning person, that, being asked the meaning of the medal, he replied...
• ULTIMATUM, n. In diplomacy, a last demand before resorting to concessions.
  Having received an ultimatum from Austria, the Turkish Ministry met to consider it....
• SERIAL, n. A literary work, usually a story that is not true, creeping through several issues of a newspaper or magazine.
  Frequently appended to each installment is a "synposis of preceding chapters" for those who have not read them, but a direr need is a synposis of succeeding chapters for those who do not intend to read _them_....
• FAIRY, n. A creature, variously fashioned and endowed, that formerly inhabited the meadows and forests.
  It was nocturnal in its habits, and somewhat addicted to dancing and the theft of children....
• WASHINGTONIAN, n. A Potomac tribesman who exchanged the privilege of governing himself for the advantage of good government.
  In justice to him it should be said that he did not want to....