THE OAK SHADE, OR RECORDS OF A VILLAGE LITERARY ASSOCIATION. EDITED BY MAURICE EUGENE. PHILADELPHIA: WILLIS P. HAZZARD, 178 CHESTNUT STREET. 1855. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by ALEX. C. BRYSON, (for the Editor,) In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. ALEX. C. BRYSON, PRINTER, 141 Chestnut Street. CONTENTS. DEDICATION 5 PREFACE 9 HANS DUNDERMANN: THE DUTCH MISER 11 THE WISDOM OF PRESERVING MODERATION IN OUR WISHES 43 THE SICK MOTHER 53 THE EXCELLENCIES OF LYING 75 THE ALCHEMIST: OR, THE MAGIC FUNNEL 87 THE BEAUTY OF A WELL-CULTIVATED HEART 123 THE DREAM OF A LOAFER 133 CONCLUSION 213 DEDICATION. In this age of prolific intellects, neither author nor editor is compelled to search for a patron of letters amongst a horde of illiterate and conceited noblemen, addle-pated princes and lords; nor is he, in this progressive country, constrained to beg the favor of some distinguished demagogue’s name to give caste or currency to the lucubrations of his brain, or the compilations of his industry. This may be regarded as a very favorable change in the times, yet it is not without its inconveniences, which the editor has fully experienced. Not being bold enough to violate a well-established precedent, and send his volume forth into the world without a dedication, he was for a while sorely perplexed in his inquiries for a proper person to whom to inscribe it. Although modern progress could freely dispense with the patronage of the nobility, it still retains the practice which perpetuates their former importance in the literary market. Thus the author who is too cautious to trample upon a time-honored custom, is frequently no little embarrassed in his laudable efforts to observe it, not having an array of aristocratic vanity, ever ready to be redeemed from its insignificance through a lying dedication, from which to make a choice to please his fancy.