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Commence   Listen
verb
Commence  v. t.  To enter upon; to begin; to perform the first act of. "Many a wooer doth commence his suit." Note: It is the practice of good writers to use the verbal noun (instead of the infinitive with to) after commence; as, he commenced studying, not he commenced to study.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Commence" Quotes from Famous Books



... one fact more to be noticed. All mountains, in some degree, but especially those which are composed of soft or decomposing substance, are delicately and symmetrically furrowed by the descent of streams. The traces of their action commence at the very summits, fine threads, and multitudinous, like the uppermost branches of a delicate tree. They unite in groups as they descend, concentrating gradually into dark undulating ravines, into ...
— Modern Painters Volume I (of V) • John Ruskin

... my high-lows unlaced and full of water, sucking every time that I lifted up my leg, and marking the white sanded floor of the front room, as I proceeded through it to the back kitchen. My mother would come downstairs, and perceiving the marks I had left, would get angry, and as usual commence singing— ...
— Poor Jack • Frederick Marryat

... belongeth vengeance and recompense." Personally I blame the press for loss of life to both the Indian and the white men, for having schooled the white man erroneously. Travelers crossing the plains were always on the defensive, and ever ready to commence war on any Indian who came within the radius of their firearms. When I was a boy I read in my reader: "Lo, the cowardly Indian." The picture above this sentence was that of an Indian in war paint, holding his bow and arrow, ready to shoot ...
— The Second William Penn - A true account of incidents that happened along the - old Santa Fe Trail • William H. Ryus

... the Indians informed me that they did not wish to be fed every day, but to be helped when they commenced to settle, because of their ignorance how to commence, and also in case of general famine; Ah-tuk-uk-koop winding up the debate by stating that they wanted food in the spring when they commenced to farm, and proportionate help as they advanced in civilization, and then asking for a further adjournment ...
— The Treaties of Canada with The Indians of Manitoba - and the North-West Territories • Alexander Morris

... If you was cal'latin' to sail a boat race you wouldn't commence at t'other end of the ...
— Kent Knowles: Quahaug • Joseph C. Lincoln

... knowing that nothing discourages men so much as seeing their fire fail to stop the rush of an enemy, Sir Charles Wilson ordered the bugle to sound "Cease firing!" The order was obeyed; the men stood steady until the enemy were within three hundred yards; then the bugle-call "Commence firing!" sounded, and from the front and left face of the square sweeping volleys were poured into ...
— The Dash for Khartoum - A Tale of Nile Expedition • George Alfred Henty

... Martius, And therefore, not what 'tis to live; to die Is to begin to live. It is to end An old, stale, weary work, and to commence A newer and a better. 'Tis to leave Deceitful knaves for the society Of gods and goodness. Thou, thyself, must part At last, from all thy garlands, pleasures, triumphs, And prove thy ...
— Essays • Ralph Waldo Emerson

... about to happen. The Indian has got some rock or mark to steer by, and knows well the door by which he is to enter the slope of water. As the canoe—never appearing so frail and tiny as when it is about to commence its series of wild leaps and rushes—nears the rim where the waters disappear from view, the bowsman stands up and, stretching forward his head, peers down the eddying rush'; in a second he is on his knees again; without turning his head he speaks a word or two to those ...
— The Great Lone Land - A Narrative of Travel and Adventure in the North-West of America • W. F. Butler

... to test the right of discussion on the population question, when, with the advice to limit the family, information was given as to how that advice could be followed. We took a little shop, printed the pamphlet, and sent notice to the police that we would commence the sale at a certain day and hour, and ourselves sell the pamphlet, so that no one else might be endangered by our action. We resigned our offices in the National Secular Society that we might not injure the society, ...
— Annie Besant - An Autobiography • Annie Besant

... to his partner, who was about to speak. "Then let us commence at the root of the matter. Mr. Kaufmann and I have often discussed the subject. In this case you are the one who has 'tried it.' Suppose ...
— The Spinner's Book of Fiction • Various

... "The Republican party," he asserted, "is as dead as the Whig party was after the Scott campaign of 1852, and from this time forward will diminish in every State of the Union and cannot make another campaign.... The Populist will now commence a vigorous campaign and will push the work of organization and education in every county in the Union." There were those, however, who believed that the new party had made a great mistake in having anything to do with either of the old parties, that fusion, particularly ...
— The Agrarian Crusade - A Chronicle of the Farmer in Politics • Solon J. Buck

... begin with any Number. When no time is specified, it will be understood that the subscriber desires to commence with the Number issued after ...
— Harper's Young People, June 29, 1880 - An Illustrated Weekly • Various

... will not commence action until he has made the private signal, and all manner of parleying which is quite unnecessary. He knows ...
— The King's Own • Captain Frederick Marryat

... of May it is designed to commence the publication of a New Monthly Periodical, to be entitled THE NATIONAL MISCELLANY. As its name imports, it will be a Magazine of General Literature, giving itself free range over every subject likely to be of ...
— Notes and Queries, Number 182, April 23, 1853 • Various

... loads and ascertaining that nothing had been forgotten, the depot party started out with full loads and marched away from Glacier Tongue for seven miles, when our first camp was made on the sea ice. To commence with I went with Meares and No. 1 dog-sledge; the dogs were so eager and excited that they started by bolting at a breakneck speed and, in spite of all that we could do, took us over the glacier edge on to the sea ice. The sledge capsized ...
— South with Scott • Edward R. G. R. Evans

... woman that could identify her, nothing except a cruel letter, which evidently came from the girl's father; but even in this there was neither date nor locality named. It had no term of endearment to commence with, and was signed simply, "John Dunbar." Two things were, however, proven by it: that the woman's given name was Bessie, and that by her marriage she had cut herself off from her home and her ...
— Scottish sketches • Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr

... is disaster of thy own making Lest thou commence to lie—be dumb! No runner can outstrip his fate 'Tis the first step that makes a path When to loquacious fools with patience rare ...
— Quotations from the Works of George Meredith • David Widger

... profession. Or, toute profession exige an apprentissage. Les Americains ne peuvent donc donner a la culture generale de l'intelligence que les premieres annees de la vie: a quinze ans ils entrent dans une carriere: ainsi leur education finit le plus souvent a l'epoque ou la notre commence." ...
— American Institutions and Their Influence • Alexis de Tocqueville et al

... just for amusement. This is what is called "getting his wind up." The same thing can be done in the front line by a few men opening up with five or ten rounds, rapid fire, directed just over Heinie's parapet. In nearly every case, he will commence shooting blindly toward our lines: the contagion will spread and, the first thing you know, he will have wasted about ...
— The Emma Gees • Herbert Wes McBride

... thirteen to sixteen, sometimes earlier; occasionally as early as eleven or twelve; at other times later, and not until a girl be seventeen or eighteen years of age. Menstruation in large towns is supposed to commence at an earlier period than in the country, and earlier in luxurious ...
— Searchlights on Health - The Science of Eugenics • B. G. Jefferis and J. L. Nichols

... especially loyal during the rebellion. I was informed that the tents were in store in the arsenal at Allahabad, and that the camp must be ready at Cawnpore on the 15th October, on which date the Viceroy would arrive, and a day or two later commence his ...
— Forty-one years in India - From Subaltern To Commander-In-Chief • Frederick Sleigh Roberts

... by the very strongest persuasion of a couple of policemen; X and Y laughed at one another, and nodded their heads knowingly as the poor wretch with her whimpering boys was led away. They understood very well who the personage was who had come to disturb the matrimonial ceremony; it did not commence until Mrs. De Lacy (as this lady chose to be called) had quitted this temple of Hymen. She slunk through the throng of emblazoned carriages, and the press of footmen arrayed as splendidly as Solomon in ...
— The Newcomes • William Makepeace Thackeray

... prisoner spends in his cell are laden with the greatest of all continuous sorrows. There is but little danger of surfeiting him with kindness and advantages, so long as he is deprived of his freedom. If there is any hope for the reformation of the vicious and depraved, no better place can be found to commence that reformation than while he is an inmate of the prison. While there, he is shut out from the society of his wicked companions; he is not subjected to the same temptations in prison as on the outside. Save being deprived ...
— The Twin Hells • John N. Reynolds

... the Colossians say, "Let no man judge you in respect of the new moon"? A competent scholar, in recognising this consociation of Hebrew religion with the moon's phases, rightly ascribes to it an earlier origin. Says Ewald: "To connect the annual festivals with the full moon, and to commence them in the evening, as though greeting her with a glad shout, was certainly a primitive custom, both among other races and in the circle of nations from which in the earliest times Israel sprang." [149] And the Bishop of Derry remarks: "To a religious Hebrew it was rather the moon than ...
— Moon Lore • Timothy Harley

... judgment went, to be quite himself. He had, as was his wont, asked himself a great many questions, and given himself a great many answers; and the upshot of this was that he had set himself down for an ass. He had determined that he was much too old and much to rusty to commence the manouvres of lovemaking; that he had let the time slip through his hands which should have been used for such purposes; and that now he must lie on his bed as he had made it. Then he asked himself whether in truth he did love this woman; ...
— Barchester Towers • Anthony Trollope

... said but to commence at my departure upon this commission, I will, before I enter upon my narrative, give the reader some insight into the history and records of the Shoshones, or Snake Indians, with whom I was domiciled, and over whom, although so young, ...
— Monsieur Violet • Frederick Marryat

... then took a walk out for a considerable time, and went back again and found them still in the same position. Being tired out, he would wait no longer, and came home. We went in the afternoon to see Ephraim for the purpose of inquiring of him how soon our journey to the South River would commence, and whether we would have time first to take a trip to Aquakenon[179] with the man from Bergen, of whom we have spoken above; but we did not find ...
— Journal of Jasper Danckaerts, 1679-1680 • Jasper Danckaerts

... kind of mimosa, called huizachi by the Indians, who use its pods for dyeing black cloth, and for making a tolerably useful ink. The plain assumed by degrees a less monotonous aspect. Butterflies began to hover round us, and our young naturalist wanted to commence insect-hunting. I restrained his ardor, as I wished to keep our boxes and needles free for the rarer species which we might expect to find as soon as we had reached more uninhabited districts. At last, lagging a little, our party reached the foot of ...
— Adventures of a Young Naturalist • Lucien Biart

... on the contrary, as soon as the birds arrive, they commence building their nests, and become musical at the same time. If a stranger from a tropical climate should arrive in this country in the spring, and remain here during the months of May and June, he would hear more birds singing together than he ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Volume 2, Issue 10, August, 1858 • Various

... ill inform'd as to the manners of the Indian ladies; 'tis in the bud alone these wild roses are accessible; liberal to profusion of their charms before marriage, they are chastity itself after: the moment they commence wives, they give up the very idea of pleasing, and turn all their thoughts to the cares, and those not the most delicate cares, of domestic life: laborious, hardy, active, they plough the ground, they sow, they reap; whilst the haughty husband amuses himself with hunting, ...
— The History of Emily Montague • Frances Brooke

... greatest benefit would accrue to the public. The report recommended that a building should be raised for its reception, and that successive grants should be made to effect the purposes above specified. In consequence of this report the house voted a sum of.L40,000 to commence the work, and the foundation of the structure was forthwith laid. The building was completed in 1827, and the following summer this valuable library was transferred to the Museum. It is a splendid monument of the good taste and patriotic ...
— The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. - From George III. to Victoria • E. Farr and E. H. Nolan

... has Hawthorne valued it too highly, —the expression of worldly splendor incarnated in a beautiful woman on the tragical verge of an abyss. If she only were beautiful! Here the limitations of the statue commence. Hawthorne says, "The sculptor had not shunned to give the full, Nubian lips and other characteristics of ...
— The Life and Genius of Nathaniel Hawthorne • Frank Preston Stearns

... harangue nae mair, But steek your gab for ever. Or try the wicked town of Ayr, For there they'll think you clever; Or, nae reflection on your lear, Ye may commence a shaver; Or to the Netherton repair, And turn a carpet-weaver Aff-hand ...
— The Complete Works of Robert Burns: Containing his Poems, Songs, and Correspondence. • Robert Burns and Allan Cunningham

... Waife—(ah, reader, let us keep to that familiar name to the last!)—"I take this moment," said Darrell, "the first moment in which you can feel thoroughly assured that no prejudice against yourself clouds my judgment in reference to her whom you believe to be your grandchild, to commence, and I trust to conclude forever, the subject which twice brought you within these walls. On the night of your recent arrival here, you gave this copy of a French woman's declaration, to the effect that two infants had been placed out with her to nurse; that one of them was my poor daughter's ...
— What Will He Do With It, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... not necessarily watchfulness may seem paradoxical, yet here is a Persian story which goes far to show that they are not always synonymous terms: Once upon a time (to commence in the good old way) there came into a city a merchant on horseback, attended by his servant on foot. Hearing that the city was infested by many bold and expert thieves, in consequence of which property was very insecure, he said to his servant at night: "I will keep watch, and do you sleep; ...
— Flowers from a Persian Garden and Other Papers • W. A. Clouston

... with a pile of goods beneath its ample canopy, about the height of the second-floor window of an ordinary house, were stowed away beneath a lofty roof which extended over one end of the yard; and another, which was probably to commence its journey that morning, was drawn out into the open space. A double tier of bedroom galleries, with old, clumsy balustrades, ran round two sides of the straggling area, and a double row of bells to correspond, sheltered ...
— The Inns and Taverns of "Pickwick" - With Some Observations on their Other Associations • B.W. Matz

... this open, trusting, tender heart, happens to meet with one of her own sex and age, whose address and manners are engaging, she is instantly seized with an ardent desire to commence a friendship with her. She feels the most lively impatience at the restraints of company, and the decorums of ceremony. She longs to be alone with her, longs to assure her of the warmth of her tenderness, and generously ascribes to the fair stranger all the good qualities she feels ...
— Essays on Various Subjects - Principally Designed for Young Ladies • Hannah More

... be divided into two classes—those who have something to do, and those who have nothing. I shall commence with the former, because that species come more frequently under the notice of young ladies, whom it is our province to warn ...
— Sketches by Boz - illustrative of everyday life and every-day people • Charles Dickens

... Madeleine, after authoritatively closing the curtains, kissed her sister, and was about to commence immediate disrobing, when she caught sight of the shagreen-covered book, lying open on ...
— The Light of Scarthey • Egerton Castle

... school was to reopen nearly a week before the Harvard term was to commence—a raging, wet snowstorm came charging in from the Atlantic. Snow had no terrors for a Coniston person, and Cynthia had been for her walk. Returning about five o'clock, she was surprised to have the door opened for her ...
— The Crossing • Winston Churchill

... had afforded us shelter without letting fall even a single branch upon our heads,* but the morning was squally and unfavourable for the objects of the excursion, and we had still to ride some way before I could commence operations. Proceeding along the skirts of the woody ridge on the left in order to avoid swamps, we at length saw through the trees the blue waters of the sea and heard the ...
— Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, Vol 2 (of 2) • Thomas Mitchell

... of love and obligation, to a man whose person and acquired accomplishments at least equalled his own; and whose connexion with him was of such a nature as raised an almost insurmountable bar to his design; because, with what face could he commence rival to the person whose family had raised him from want and servility, and whose own generosity had rescued him from the miseries ...
— The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom, Complete • Tobias Smollett

... vivaient en pays grec, il y a donc eu chez eux infiltration des idees et des sentiments helleniques, quelquefois meme l imagination hellenique y a penetre comme dans le 3 evangile et dans les Actes. Dans son ensemble le N.T. garde le caractere d un livre hebraique. Le christianisme ne commence avoir une litterature et des doctrines vraiment helleniques qu au milieu du second siecle. Mais il y avait un judaisme celui d Alexandrie qui avait faite alliance avec l hellenisme avant meme qu il y eut ...
— History of Dogma, Volume 1 (of 7) • Adolph Harnack

... supra; paying from month to month the two youths whom said Titian shall present to you at the rate of four ducats each per month, as urged by him because of their skill and sufficiency in said art of painting, tho' we do not mean the payment of their salary to commence until they begin work; and thus will you do. Given on the ...
— Aratra Pentelici, Seven Lectures on the Elements of Sculpture - Given before the University of Oxford in Michaelmas Term, 1870 • John Ruskin

... eight rapid circles, like an Arab in a play. M. du Marnet, being forced to turn in the same spot and defend himself on all sides, clapped both spurs to his horse, broke the circle, took to the field, and threatened to commence the same manoeuvre about Fougas. But the gentleman from the other world did not wait for him. He rushed off at a full gallop, and made a round of the hippodrome, always followed by M. du Marnet. The cuirassier, being heavier, and mounted on a slower horse, was distanced. He revenged himself ...
— The Man With The Broken Ear • Edmond About

... hateful in itself, and must be particularly so to her, for she is not a low, or an immoral woman; but one of those who, not having strength enough to complete the sacrifice they have had strength enough to commence, are betrayed into a life of duplicity ...
— Hyperion • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

... rounding the Battery. I cried out to the captain to cut loose from the tow, employ the first steam tug and I would pay the bill, which he did, getting on the side of the vessel by eleven o'clock, thus saving my contract by one hour. But they did not commence taking them on board, so the captain of the barge put a demurrage of $20 per day for detention. In the meantime, I had bought my ticket to sail by the steamer Georgia to the Isthmus to go on ...
— The Adventures of a Forty-niner • Daniel Knower

... I carried in my heart that deep-seated fear of her which her unpleasant good-humour and gaiety never disturbed for a moment. I was very glad, therefore, when she went to Todcaster by rail, to make some purchases for the journey which we were daily expecting to commence; and happy in the opportunity of a walk, good old Mary Quince and I set forth for a ...
— Uncle Silas - A Tale of Bartram-Haugh • J.S. Le Fanu

... Soul—I have obliterated from my mind the remembrance of my brother's ingratitude to our father, and have placed the sum of L500 to your credit in the Cleef branch of the Consolidated Bank. I trust it may assist you to commence an industrious career. For the rest, it may interest you to know that my capital, which I realized upon your grandfather's death, is already placed in the treasury of the sect to which I belong—where it will remain until claimed by the One in whose ...
— The Mystics - A Novel • Katherine Cecil Thurston

... Members, To commence with that.—To regulate the love which we owe to ourselves, we must imagine a body full of thinking members, for we are members of the whole, and must see how each ...
— Pascal's Pensees • Blaise Pascal

... not to let me know that you returned last night; and Mrs. Fraudhurst is just as bad, and I will not forgive her or you, unless you tell me where you have been and all you have seen and done. Now, Sir Wanderer, commence and give an account of yourself; you see I am prepared to listen," apparently waiting with much attention for her uncle to enlighten her as to the why and wherefore he had journeyed to London. It was evident that the Baronet had been in the habit of making a confidant of his pretty ...
— Vellenaux - A Novel • Edmund William Forrest

... numberless upon me stuck as leaves Do on the oak, have with one winter's brush Fell from their boughs, and left me open, bare For every storm that blows; I, to bear this, That never knew but better, is some burden: Thy nature did commence in sufferance, time Hath made thee hard in't. Why shouldst thou hate men? They never flatter'd thee: what hast thou given? If thou wilt curse, thy father, that poor rag, Must be thy subject; who in spite put stuff To some she-beggar and compounded thee Poor rogue hereditary. Hence! be gone! ...
— The Life of Timon of Athens • William Shakespeare [Craig edition]

... the revels commence, at once!" cried Cyn, rolling down her sleeves, while Nattie wiped the smut from ...
— Wired Love - A Romance of Dots and Dashes • Ella Cheever Thayer

... great and sudden increase of the spots when we come to England. They commence at the border, on the west, where vessels from and to the busy Clyde enter or quit the Irish Sea. Darkening the fringes of the land on both sides, and clustering round the Isle of Man, they multiply until the ports have no room to hold them, and, ...
— Battles with the Sea • R.M. Ballantyne

... was so to alter the future occurred when Michael, in no uncertain manner, announced to all and sundry his presence on the Makambo. It was due to Kwaque's carelessness, to commence with, for Kwaque left the stateroom without tight-closing the door. As the Makambo rolled on an easy sea the door swung back and forth, remaining wide open for intervals and banging shut but not banging hard ...
— Michael, Brother of Jerry • Jack London

... his "Surgical Observations on Tumors," observes that cancer of the penis begins by a warty excrescence on the glans or prepuce. Walshe, in his work on the "Nature and Treatment of Cancer," says: "The disease may commence in almost all parts of the organ, but the glans and prepuce are by far its most common primary seats. It may originate either from a warty excrescence or a pimple, or it may infiltrate the glans, or appear ...
— History of Circumcision from the Earliest Times to the Present - Moral and Physical Reasons for its Performance • Peter Charles Remondino

... ascribable to the fact that my friends and pupils always adopt a more favourable opinion of me long before I part with them; and ere many days (and this I divine by infallible indicia), your cure will commence in earnest; and in proportion as you progress to perfect restoration of the powers of judgment, you will grow in suspicion of the fact of being under a delusion; or rather I should say a very slight perversion and ...
— Hard Cash • Charles Reade

... Fort Bent we bargained again to go and trade with the Kiowas, on the same terms that we were employed upon the preceding winter, and we could commence at any ...
— Thirty-One Years on the Plains and In the Mountains • William F. Drannan

... once; but if refused, taken by force. Another for breaking up, and a quantity of tar are likewise procured at the same time. Thus furnished, they repair to a particular spot close to the sea shore, and commence operations. ...
— A Righte Merrie Christmasse - The Story of Christ-Tide • John Ashton

... accident, and they were skirting the borders of a pine forest when Liso suddenly became conscious of a suspicious noise behind her. Looking round, she saw, to her horror, a troop of gaunt grey wolves issue from the forest and commence running after the sledge. She instantly slashed the horse with her whip, and the next moment the chase began in grim earnest. But, gallop as fast as it would, the horse could not outpace the wolves, whom hunger had made fleet as the wind, and it was not many minutes before ...
— Werwolves • Elliott O'Donnell

... your sentiments: neither should I. Still, there is a charm in money. Every night before going to bed I tot up on my fingers the amount of the bequest I feel I ought to receive. It has reached two thousand pounds by this. Next visit will commence a fresh thousand." ...
— Molly Bawn • Margaret Wolfe Hamilton

... then! but listen. I like promises, I like to place under the guarantee of an oath, under the protection of Heaven, in fact, everything which interests my heart and my affections. Promise me, or rather swear to me, that if in the life we are about to commence, a life which will be full of sacrifice, mystery, anxiety, disappointment, and misunderstanding; swear to me that if we should in any way deceive, or misunderstand each other, or should judge each other unjustly, for that indeed would be criminal in love such as ours; swear ...
— Louise de la Valliere • Alexandre Dumas, Pere

... hardly any relaxing effect upon his lovely weapon. I therefore drew him upon the not unwilling Laura, and again guiding the fiery courser into the lists of pleasure, had the satisfaction of seeing them once more commence the amorous encounter, which proceeded to the ordinary happy result, evidently to the great ...
— Laura Middleton; Her Brother and her Lover • Anonymous

... is most desperately smitten; for, mark me, when a man at his age takes the malady, it is forty times as severe as with a younger fellow, like you. But then, to be sure, he began at the wrong end in the matter; why commence with papa? When a man has his own consent for liking a girl, he must be a contemptible fellow if he can't get her; and as to anything else being wanting, I don't understand it. But the moment you begin by influencing the heads of the house, good-by to your chances with ...
— Charles O'Malley, The Irish Dragoon, Volume 1 (of 2) • Charles Lever

... We commence our tenth volume of the MIRROR with an embellishment quite novel in design from the generality of our graphic illustrations, but one which, we flatter ourselves, will excite interest among our friends, especially after so recently, ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 262, July 7, 1827 • Various

... our plan to commence the search in the region of New York City, because this area is probably the oldest center of infection in the United States. Apparently this is the port of entry where the undesirable immigrants (Japanese or Chinese chestnuts) passed through quarantine and were allowed ...
— Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Sixth Annual Meeting. Rochester, New York, September 1 and 2, 1915 • Various

... may be supposed to consist of two essences or substances; one of which may be termed spirit, and the other matter. The former of these possesses the power to commence or produce motion, and the latter to receive and communicate it. So that motion, considered as a cause, immediately precedes every effect; and, considered as an effect, it immediately succeeds ...
— Zoonomia, Vol. I - Or, the Laws of Organic Life • Erasmus Darwin

... the least know how to parry the blows that were aimed at himself, and Cuff had begun the attack on the three preceding occasions without ever allowing his enemy to strike, Figs now determined that he would commence the engagement by a charge on his own part; and, accordingly, being a left-handed man, brought that arm into action, and hit out a couple of times with all his might—once at Mr. Cuff's left eye, and once ...
— Boys and girls from Thackeray • Kate Dickinson Sweetser

... examination supply me with some clue that will enable me to give them the name of that mysterious X, they'll surrender me this evening for the people to batten on. Attention, Lupin, old chap, the great game is about to commence!" ...
— The Teeth of the Tiger • Maurice Leblanc

... a tambourine, and a triangle, and certain elongated scraps of music, Mr. George directs his massive tread. And halting at a few paces from it, as he sees a soldierly looking woman, with her outer skirts tucked up, come forth with a small wooden tub, and in that tub commence a-whisking and a-splashing on the margin of the pavement, Mr. George says to himself, "She's as usual, washing greens. I never saw her, except upon a baggage-waggon, when she wasn't ...
— Bleak House • Charles Dickens

... time his attention became drawn toward the struggle which was about to commence between Great Britain and America, and at a public meeting he made a short speech which attracted general attention. He was now but seventeen years of age, yet his pen was keenly felt in the interest of America, through the columns of Holts Journal, to which he had ...
— Hidden Treasures - Why Some Succeed While Others Fail • Harry A. Lewis

... of the blacks and the whites. How sixty of them could let that wretch escape unkilled, I cannot conceive—they will have to suffer as much for the two whom they secured, as if they had put one hundred to death: if you commence, make sure work—do not trifle, for they will not trifle with you—they want us for their slaves, and think nothing of murdering us in order to subject us to that wretched condition—therefore, if there is an attempt made ...
— Walker's Appeal, with a Brief Sketch of His Life - And Also Garnet's Address to the Slaves of the United States of America • David Walker and Henry Highland Garnet

... as if you were coming in from the fields some lovely spring morning, my fine rustic. That appearance will last barely a day or two, but I expect, by Jupiter, to have you sold by to-morrow evening, free to turn yellow and waste away under your new master. So I am going to commence by stripping you, and anointing you with this preparation of oil." The "horse-dealer" unlocked one ...
— The Brass Bell - or, The Chariot of Death • Eugene Sue

... morning, Marco met Forester on the stairs, as he was coming down to breakfast, and told him that he thought he should feel better to be punished. So Forester reflected upon the subject, and at nine o'clock, when Marco went in to commence his studies, Forester told him that he had concluded ...
— Marco Paul's Voyages and Travels; Vermont • Jacob Abbott

... 1563 it was almost entirely subject to the dominion of Satan. Sir Walter Scott has narrated some of the most prominent cases and trials in the northern part of the island. The series may be said to commence from the confederated conspiracy of hell to prevent the union of James VI. with the Princess Anne of Denmark. An overwhelming tempest at sea during the voyage of these anti-papal, anti-diabolic royal personages was the appointed means of ...
— The Superstitions of Witchcraft • Howard Williams

... about one thing only, viz., that out of their various callings they may promote their own advantage, and convert the public loss into their private gains. For our annual officers wish this only, that those who commence, whether they are taught or untaught is of no moment, shall be sleek, fat, pigeons, worth the plucking. The Philosophastic are admitted to a degree in Arts, because they have no acquaintance with them. And they are desired to be wise men, because they ...
— The Anatomy of Melancholy • Democritus Junior

... for the illegal enjoyment of the territory. The consequence was, that Massinissa immediately seized another Carthaginian district on the western frontier of their territory, the town of Tusca and the great plains near the Bagradas; no course was left to the Carthaginians but to commence another hopeless process at Rome. After long and, beyond doubt, intentional delay a second commission appeared in Africa (597); but, when the Carthaginians were unwilling to commit themselves unconditionally to a decision to be pronounced ...
— The History of Rome (Volumes 1-5) • Theodor Mommsen

... the country too poor to pay for cultivating without manuring. Of the capabilities of their lands under proper treatment the owners thereof have no idea whatever. Such men say they can not make enough manure on the farm and are too poor to buy. Why not, then, commence plowing under green crops, the only manure within easy reach? If fifty acres can not be turned under the first year, put at least one acre under, which will help feed the rest. Why be contented with thirty bushels ...
— The $100 Prize Essay on the Cultivation of the Potato; and How to Cook the Potato • D. H. Compton and Pierre Blot

... said the senator. "Colonel Andrews—Captain Foster—this is my colleague, Mr. Dwight, a member of the Washington Bar, who will assist me in my defence of Miss Newton. I am quite ready to commence at once, Captain Foster." ...
— The Lost Despatch • Natalie Sumner Lincoln

... morning, when the commander and master were preparing to set off to commence their survey, Mudge asked me if I should like to make a trip along the coast. Of course I said Yes. As Tom and Harry begged that they might accompany us, Mudge got leave to take the jolly-boat, with Tillard, Tamaku, and Popo to assist in pulling. We provided ...
— Twice Lost • W.H.G. Kingston

... must begin to call you Mr. Worth some time, and there can be no better time than this, when you make your first appearance in the city and commence a ...
— Ishmael - In the Depths • Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth

... about one foot in length. A large proportion of these trees have not sprouted as yet, though alder and better pruned trees are all sprouted in the same vicinity. The bark is green and has considerable sap. Will the trees commence ...
— One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered • E.J. Wickson

... carry such stores of all sorts as will be needed. They cannot therefore carry, besides, an army large enough to cope with such a population as ours. They will have no fortified place from which to commence their operations, but must rest them on no better base than a set of wretched tents, and such means as the necessities of the moment will allow them. But, in truth, I do not believe that they would even be able to effect a disembarkation. Let us, therefore, ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 2 • Various

... coming to town, and she could come to us at the Mansion any moment; and now that we have met that friend of hers, that Mr. Noel, she may be sending him to see about us—so you see it is more important than ever that we should find a place where we can really commence ...
— The Palace Beautiful - A Story for Girls • L. T. Meade

... respects that his school duties perplex and harass him day by day. Now how different will be the feelings of these two boys in respect to coming to school. The one will be eager and prompt to reach his place and commence his duties, while the other will love much better to loiter in idleness and liberty in the open air. Nor is he, under the circumstances of the case, to blame for this preference. There is no one, old or young, who likes or can like to ...
— The Teacher • Jacob Abbott

... the filling and roll, tying securely. Now pat just sufficient flour into the meat to cover. Place on a rack in the baking pan and put in a hot oven. Just as soon as the meat becomes brown commence the basting with one cup of boiling water. Reduce the heat ...
— Mrs. Wilson's Cook Book - Numerous New Recipes Based on Present Economic Conditions • Mary A. Wilson

... cider-mill stands on the hill just before Mrs. Widesworth's house: the procession may be expected to pass before her windows about four o'clock; it will then make the circuit of the town, and reach the top of the hill a little before five, when the exercises will commence." ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 12, No. 72, October, 1863 • Various

... we should commence the immediate work of packing at once, we will leave over the after proceedings till later ...
— The Jewel of Seven Stars • Bram Stoker

... form a perfect whole, in which art itself concealed appeared only, as she expressed it, in the sublime of simplicity. In the midst of all her talking, however, she went on with the essential business, and as she finished, pronounced "Precepte commence, exemple acheve." ...
— Helen • Maria Edgeworth

... in the execution of them. Dalberg alone seemed willing to support him. Mortified, but not disheartened by their coldness, Schiller reckoned up his means of succeeding without them. The plan of his work was contracted within narrower limits; he determined to commence it on his own resources. After much delay, the first number of the Rheinische Thalia, enriched by three acts of Don Carlos, appeared in 1785. It was continued, with one short interruption, till 1794. The main purpose of ...
— The Life of Friedrich Schiller - Comprehending an Examination of His Works • Thomas Carlyle

... but he made Miss Inches the politest of bows, and said: "You are very kind, I am sure, and I hope Johnnie will be good and not give you much trouble. When would you wish her visit to commence?" ...
— Nine Little Goslings • Susan Coolidge

... the offer to join the book-club, and at last we started the educational subject. Many plans were discussed, and finally we arranged for one woman, who had received an excellent education and was quite fitted for the post, to commence a day-school; but this entailed so much loss of her valuable time that the terms she is obliged to ask seem disproportionately high to the people's means. She wants 2 shillings and 6 pence a week with each child, and this is terrible heavy on the head of a family who is ...
— Station Life in New Zealand • Lady Barker

... you have resolved to commence operations, and that a suitable spot has been selected. After a day's digging, you will find, that to prevent the earth from caving in and burying you up, timber is wanting. You make application, and find that to buy staves and planks will cost you ...
— The Gold Hunter's Adventures - Or, Life in Australia • William H. Thomes

... between the Florentines and the Venetians still continued, and as the king, after the war of Piombino, had made peace with the former, it seemed indecent to commence an open rupture until some plausible reason could be assigned in justification of offensive measures. On this account each sent ambassadors to Florence, who, on the part of their sovereigns, signified that the league formed between them was made not for injury to any, but solely for the mutual ...
— History Of Florence And Of The Affairs Of Italy - From The Earliest Times To The Death Of Lorenzo The Magnificent • Niccolo Machiavelli

... front as rear, the railroads over which our stores must pass being much exposed. I have the Nashville Railroad guarded by three regiments, yet it is far from being safe; and, the moment actual hostilities commence, these roads will be interrupted, and we will be in a dilemma. To meet this in part I have put a cargo of provisions at the mouth of Salt River, guarded by two regiments. All these detachments weaken the main force, and endanger the whole. Do not conclude, ...
— Memoirs of Three Civil War Generals, Complete • U. S. Grant, W. T. Sherman, P. H. Sheridan

... "You will commence firing again in fifteen minutes. Pass it along." Down the line went the false order. Smiling inwardly, the shrewd aide-de-camp galloped away. Meantime the Australian G.O.C. had acted vigorously. Throwing out two ...
— The Kangaroo Marines • R. W. Campbell

... also claimed that, when their earth cools and the frigid blasts freeze out the world, there will gradually commence the Age of Ice, or the age in which human species will exist by reason of ...
— Life in a Thousand Worlds • William Shuler Harris

... The ceremony was to commence at noon, but at ten o'clock the whole place was astir—not merely beginning to move, but actually moving; everybody taking their places for the great ceremony. As noon drew near, the excitement was intense and prolonged. One by one the ...
— The Lady of the Shroud • Bram Stoker

... came to supply ourselves with extra ammunition, and be prepared to move with six days' rations at a moment's notice. This settled it that "business" was about to commence again in earnest. What the contemplated movement was we had not the remotest idea, though we knew, of course, it was to be another whack in some form at the Johnnies on the other side of the river. ...
— War from the Inside • Frederick L. (Frederick Lyman) Hitchcock

... and Gentlemen, I shall commence by an attempt to give you an imitation of that popular and favourite songster, the Thrush—better known to some of you, I daresay, as the Throstle, or Mavis! (He gives the Thrush—which somehow doesn't "go.") I shall next endeavour to ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 100, 13 June 1891 • Various

... account of all the extra allowances and charges of the commander-in-chief when in the field, with orders to add the same to the debit of the Vizier's account, as a part of his general subsidy,—the charge to commence from the day on which the general shall pass the Caramnassa, and to continue till his return to the same line." That this additional expense imposed by the said Warren Hastings on the Vizier was unjust in itself, and ...
— The Works Of The Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. IX. (of 12) • Edmund Burke

... to make the public comprehend all the necessities of a service afloat. With several hundred rude beings confined within the narrow limits of a vessel, men of all nations and of the lowest habits, it would be to the last degree indiscreet to commence their reformation by relaxing the bonds of discipline, under the mistaken impulses of a false philanthropy. It has a lofty sound, to be sure, to talk about American citizens being too good to be brought under ...
— The Pilot • J. Fenimore Cooper

... comte, is of the Mecklenburg breed. In looking whether the bit suited his mouth, I saw that he was rising seven, the very age when the training of a horse intended for a charger should commence. The forehand is light. A horse which holds its head high, it is said, never tires his rider's hand. The withers are rather low. The drooping of the hind-quarters would almost make me doubt the purity of its ...
— Ten Years Later • Alexandre Dumas, Pere

... minutes one of the planes would roll over the surface of the level ground in front of the long line of hangars. Then, when sufficient momentum had been attained, it would commence to climb swiftly upward. Soon the machine would get into spirals like a winding staircase, and mount toward an altitude of perhaps four thousand feet, there to await the coming of companion craft before heading toward the ...
— Air Service Boys Over The Enemy's Lines - The German Spy's Secret • Charles Amory Beach

... nothing so absurd or vain Or barbarous or inhumane, But if it lay the least pretence To piety and godliness, Or tender-hearted conscience, And zeal for gospel truths profess,— Does sacred instantly commence, And all that dare but question it are straight Pronounced th' uncircumcised and reprobate, As malefactors that escape and fly Into a sanctuary for defence, Must not be brought to justice thence, Although their crimes be ne'er so great and high. And he that dares ...
— A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume II (of II) • Augustus de Morgan

... middle between the rows. Each scholar was hurrying to his place at one of the desks, where, as he arrived, he stood. The master already stood in solemn posture at the nearer end of the room on a platform behind his desk, prepared to commence the extempore prayer, which was printed in a kind of blotted stereotype upon every one of their brains. Annie had hardly succeeded in reaching a vacant place among the girls when he began. The boys were as still as death while the master prayed; but a ...
— Alec Forbes of Howglen • George MacDonald

... city, but I could not do it, because I have felt all the time like a boy in a candy-shop —there was every thing to choose from, and yet no choice. I have drifted along hopelessly for a hundred pages of manuscript without knowing where to commence. I will not commence at all. Our passports have been examined. We ...
— Innocents abroad • Mark Twain

... Regles apres qu'elles ont commence une fois, a moins qu'elle ne soit due a la grossesse ou a l'allaitement, est une affaire de la plus grande importance et personne ne devrait manquer de se servir de Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound jusqu'a ce que de nouveau ...
— Treatise on the Diseases of Women • Lydia E. Pinkham

... wish me to accompany the king," whispered John Heywood. "He is afraid the king might blab out to me a little of that diabolical work which they will commence at midnight. Well, I call the devil, as well as the king, my brother, and with his help I too will be in the green-room at midnight. Ah, the queen is retiring; and there is the Duke of Norfolk leaving the hall. I have a slight longing to see whether the duke goes ...
— Henry VIII And His Court • Louise Muhlbach

... BEGIN—COMMENCE. These words have the same meaning; careful speakers, however, generally prefer to use the former. Indeed, there is rarely any good reason for giving the preference to the ...
— The Verbalist • Thomas Embly Osmun, (AKA Alfred Ayres)

... Murrumbidgee and Murray. Mr. Stapylton reaches the junction of the rivers. Reception by the natives of the left bank. Passage of the Murray. Heavy rains set in. Row up the Murray to the junction of the Murrumbidgee. Commence the journey upwards, along the left bank. Strange animal. Picturesque scenery on the river. Kangaroos numerous. Country improves as we ascend the river. A region of reeds. The water inaccessible from soft and muddy banks. Habits of our native guides. Natives very ...
— Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, Vol 2 (of 2) • Thomas Mitchell

... of the principal learned societies, both English and foreign, began at a very early age to collect books. While at Rugby he formed a small library, the catalogue of which is still in existence, and the inheritance of his father's property in 1818 enabled him to commence the formation of his magnificent collection of manuscripts. With a view to their acquisition, in 1820 he paid a visit to the Continent, and remained abroad until 1825, during which time he made large purchases of manuscripts, especially at the sale of the famous Meerman collection at the Hague ...
— English Book Collectors • William Younger Fletcher

... when they met with such a singular obstacle. If a ship has not much way through the water, these weeds will impede her course. It has been very justly remarked, that if the latitude where these weeds commence was accurately determined, it would fix exactly the extent of the voyages of the Carthaginians in this direction. The weed alluded to is probably the ...
— Robert Kerr's General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 18 • William Stevenson

... of war, and only alive to the glory of the present cause, Helen sympathized in the ardor of her cousin, and with a thrill of sad delight hurried to her apartment, to commence ...
— The Scottish Chiefs • Miss Jane Porter

... man now cleared his voice, as if about to commence; but before he had time to begin, a sudden gust of air blew out the candle which served to illuminate the room in which the poor girl lay, and she, with ...
— The Purcell Papers - Volume II. (of III.) • Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

... silent. Robert suddenly realized that there was little to say unless he ventured on debatable ground. It would be too absurd of him to commence making love at once, and as for asking Ellen about her work, that seemed a subject ...
— The Portion of Labor • Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

... to distinguish them from a race in which the principle of heredity was even more strikingly developed—the Taylors of Ongar. In February 1824 his father, the gallant Captain Thomas Borrow, died, and his articles in the firm of a Norwich solicitor having determined, George went to London to commence literary man, in the old sense of the servitude, under the well-known bookseller-publisher, Sir Richard Phillipps. In Grub Street he translated and compiled galore, but when the trees began to shoot in 1825 he broke his chain and escaped to the ...
— Isopel Berners - The History of certain doings in a Staffordshire Dingle, July, 1825 • George Borrow

... from ignorance undergo, Ah! let not learning too commence its foe! Of old, those met rewards who could excel, And such were praised who but endeavored well: Though triumphs were to generals only due, Crowns were reserved to grace the soldiers too. Now they who reach ...
— An Essay on Criticism • Alexander Pope

... missing, and Jack was not at his wood-chopping as usual. Soon after, as I passed through the rear porch, I saw the two little boys hanging, as I supposed, by their wrists, to a pole over the bay in the barn. The door was just opened by Joe Shears, to commence his day's work of whipping, as I soon heard the cries of one, then the other, alternating in stripes heard with their cries, by spells, until noon. During this time Joe Shears was sitting before the fire, playing cards and sipping his brandy between ...
— A Woman's Life-Work - Labors and Experiences • Laura S. Haviland

... this direction, though he had not yet decided whether he preferred to work in wood or in iron. But his foster-father had higher aspirations for him, and Leo had not the heart to disappoint him, though he continued to hope that, before the time came for him to commence in earnest the business of life, he should be able to convince him that the path to fame and fortune lay in the mechanic arts as well as in commerce and finance. Leo walked out into State Street, and, by the clock on the old State House, saw that it was too early ...
— Make or Break - or, The Rich Man's Daughter • Oliver Optic

... duty for commas, semicolons, and periods. They will write indifferently 4 or four and frequently their capital a's c's, m's, and n's cannot be distinguished from the small letters. They will commence a story telling that the "Captain" did so and so, and lo, on the next page the "captain" sinks into a common noun; and so with "Father," "mother," "Aunt," "uncle," etc. Just see what the story would look like if set ...
— The Building of a Book • Various

... of affairs described in this poem is now happily a thing of the past. Newgate, as a prison, has almost ceased to be. Only when the Courts are sitting do its functions commence, and then there is constant coming and going between the old city gaol and the real London prison of ...
— Musa Pedestris - Three Centuries of Canting Songs - and Slang Rhymes [1536 - 1896] • John S. Farmer

... stacks of tins of one pound, two pounds and six pounds of beef, all bearing a well-known label, but all painted a peculiar blue for identification purposes. In the store we were met by four German laboratory assistants of the fat professor, ready to commence ...
— The Minister of Evil - The Secret History of Rasputin's Betrayal of Russia • William Le Queux

... of the new joy that had come to him: he instructed the women who worked at the colleges, and when he went home induced his relatives to commence ...
— Beneath the Banner • F. J. Cross

... in most urgent need of rest; but their intrepid commander, desiring to give his opponents no more time to strengthen their works, and full of zeal and energy, if not of prudence, determined to commence ...
— The Old Santa Fe Trail - The Story of a Great Highway • Henry Inman

... laughed without any affectation—and exchanging a look of perfect consciousness of each other's meaning, they separated, as the preparations for the business of the evening were about to commence. For a short time there was a confusion of sounds that perfectly justified the absence of Miss Henly, when the music began in earnest. Within half an hour, Mr. Delafield, who had suffered himself to be drawn to the back of the chair of a professed belle, turning his ...
— Tales for Fifteen: or, Imagination and Heart • James Fenimore Cooper

... the book trade will alone have a care for letters, research and learning will be subordinated to political expediency, and a great development of noisily competitive religious enterprises will take the place of any common religious formula. There will commence a secular decline in the quality of public thought, emotion and activity. There will be no arrest or remedy for this state of affairs so long as that superstitious faith in the People as inevitably right "in the last analysis" remains. And ...
— An Englishman Looks at the World • H. G. Wells

... divines whose business was to soothe his not less diseased mind, the very wife who should have been intent on those gentle offices by which female tenderness can alleviate even the misery of hopeless decay, were all thinking of the new world which was to commence with his death, and would have been perfectly willing to see him in the hands of the embalmer if they could have been certain that his successor would be the prince whose interest they espoused. As yet the party of the Emperor seemed ...
— The History of England from the Accession of James II. - Volume 5 (of 5) • Thomas Babington Macaulay

... to approach than the latter; and so they proved at present. Still we persevered for a while; the hope of obtaining food having been once excited, we were almost as reluctant to abandon the attempt as we had been at first to commence it. But after half an hour's severe labour at the oars, we were obliged to give it up as quite hopeless, and soon afterward the last of the long column passed beyond pursuit, leaving us completely disheartened and worn out. The sail was again arranged ...
— The Island Home • Richard Archer

... of the country lying near the sea there are two seasons, the wet and the dry. About the 10th of May showers commence, and increase in frequency, until, in the latter part of June, it begins to rain almost daily, and this continues until the middle of September. Heavy rains then cease, but showers continue, diminishing in frequency until the middle of October, when "the air is cool, ...
— Lives of the Three Mrs. Judsons • Arabella W. Stuart

... perch deposited three hundred and eighty thousand six hundred and forty; and a female sturgeon seven millions six hundred and fifty-three thousand two hundred. The viviparous species are by no means so prolific; yet the blenny brings forth two or three hundred at a time, which commence sporting together round their parent the moment ...
— The Book of Household Management • Mrs. Isabella Beeton

... "we are fairly embarked on our journey, and we will commence operations at once. I have heard the cries of a great many birds which are strange to me today, and I expect that we shall have a good harvest. We may remain here for some time. The first thing to do is to find food for our ...
— By Sheer Pluck - A Tale of the Ashanti War • G. A. Henty

... festival in Japan there is a great sale of toys, usually within the count itself—a miniature street of small booths being temporarily erected for this charming commence. Every matsuri is a children's holiday. No mother would think of attending a temple-festival without buying her child a toy: even the poorest mother can afford it; for the price of the toys sold in a temple court varies from one-fifth of one sen [3] or Japanese cent, to three or four sen; ...
— Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan - First Series • Lafcadio Hearn

... unnecessary to enlarge very fully on the application of his theory to the particular forms of that disease. We shall, however, offer a rapid review, of some of his opinions, and next detail the method of treatment he proposes for the cure of these dangerous maladies. We commence with hydrocephalus, which he remarks has been divided into an acute and chronic form. This division, our author thinks, is correct in a certain sense; for the disease varies much in duration,—running its course, sometimes in a few days; and at other ...
— North American Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3, July, 1826 • Various

... axes. A terrible cry of the people from the Place, the windows, and the towers told me that it had fallen, and that the head had rolled to the ground. I had happily strength enough left to think of his soul, and to commence ...
— Cinq Mars, Complete • Alfred de Vigny

... to pass out of the schools into adult life physically below par." The Equitable concludes with the remark: "Some day we will give all American school children thorough physical training and health education. Why not commence now?" ...
— Keeping Fit All the Way • Walter Camp

... to the humblest there—provided, of course, that he could pay, and he might remark that not an hour's credit would be given except to those who were known to him—as to Caesar himself. Now, as the light was failing, he would order the torches to be lit and commence the sale. The beauteous Pearl-Maiden, he might add, ...
— Pearl-Maiden • H. Rider Haggard

... first task is to devour the egg which serves it for a raft, as is attested by the empty envelope on which it still remains; and it is after this meal, the only one that it takes so long as it retains its present form, that it must commence its long series of transformations and feed upon the honey amassed by the Anthophora. This was the reason of the complete failure both of my attempts and of Newport's to rear the young Meloe-larvae. Instead of offering them honey, or larvae, or nymphs, we should have placed them on the eggs ...
— The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles • Jean Henri Fabre

... Burns's moral nerves—a little of his first aversion came back—but he suppressed it, and promised to endeavor to think of a place which should meet Hiram's wishes. It was now Saturday. It was understood Hiram should commence his duties the following Monday. This arranged, he took leave of his employer, ...
— The Continental Monthly, Vol. 2, No 3, September, 1862 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy. • Various

... certain localities, especially in a swampy field just outside the first line of Rebel works, they were quite abundant. I had soon collected about four hundred of them, which, by a moderate estimate, contained two hundred thousand little spiders,—quite enough, I thought, with which to commence operations. But one hot day in June I placed them all on a tray in the sun. I was called away, and on my return found my one fifth of a million young spiders ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 106, August, 1866 • Various

... the guests seated, and the repast about to commence, than the major domo, or steward, suddenly raising his wand, said aloud—"Forbear!—Place for the Lady Rowena." A side door at the upper end of the hall now opened, and Cedric's ward, Rowena, a Saxon lady of rare beauty and lofty character, ...
— The World's Greatest Books, Vol VII • Various

... time was near at hand; not the Christmas next after the autumn of Lord Ongar's marriage, but the following Christmas, and Harry Clavering had finished his studies in Mr. Burton's office. He flattered himself that he had not been idle while he was there, and was now about to commence his more advanced stage of pupilage, under the great Mr. Beilby, in London, with hopes which were still good, if they were not so magnificent as they once ...
— The Claverings • Anthony Trollope

... done anything for him, the Venetian conceived the idea of getting rid of his friend by revealing to the king the mystery of his cuckoldom, and showing him the source of the queen's happiness, not doubting for a moment but that he would commence by depriving Monsoreau of his head, according to a practice common in Sicily under similar circumstances. By this means Pezare would have all the money that he and Gauttier had noiselessly conveyed to the house of a Lombard of Genoa, which money was ...
— Droll Stories, Complete - Collected From The Abbeys Of Touraine • Honore de Balzac

... the ambitious boy told his story, and then informed his mother that he was going to Boston the next Monday morning, to commence business for himself. ...
— Now or Never - The Adventures of Bobby Bright • Oliver Optic

... excited child, drawing her stool into the corner, and crouching herself upon it, while Miss Thusa rose up, and putting back her wheel, prepared to commence her heterogeneous performance. She often "acted out" her stories and songs, to the great admiration of children and the amusement of older people, but it was very seldom this favor was granted, without earnest and reiterated entreaties. It was the first time she had ever spontaneously offered ...
— Helen and Arthur - or, Miss Thusa's Spinning Wheel • Caroline Lee Hentz

... stand alone and isolated, because nothing that is imbodied, nothing that is conscious of separation, nothing that is out of the eternal, can aid you. Learn from sensation and observe it, because only so can you commence the science of self-knowledge, and plant your foot on the first step of the ladder. Grow as the flower grows, unconsciously, but eagerly anxious to open its soul to the air. So must you press forward to open your soul ...
— Light On The Path and Through the Gates of Gold • Mabel Collins

... indissoluble ties, that would have been better. But nothing would have been more impossible than the teaching of such a lesson to his cousin Alice. George Vavasor was a man of courage, and dared do most things;—but he would not have dared to commence the teaching of such ...
— Can You Forgive Her? • Anthony Trollope

... 21st and 22d were passed in shelling the batteries on Poplar Point, and endeavoring to drag the river for torpedoes, that were now thicker than ever. As fast as our boats would leave the ships to commence dragging, the rebels would open on them, wounding and killing the men. A new battery opened on the Valley City, inflicting serious damage on her. The other ships, with their hundred-pounder rifles, drove the rebels off repeatedly, but only to return whenever our ...
— Reminiscences of Two Years in the United States Navy • John M. Batten

... cannot be cogitated by means of the mere categories: it does itself consist in the mere relation of something in general to the senses. In the same way, we cannot cogitate relations of things in abstracto, if we commence with conceptions alone, in any other manner than that one is the cause of determinations in the other; for that is itself the conception of the understanding or category of relation. But, as in this case we make ...
— The Critique of Pure Reason • Immanuel Kant

... it; but when the shadow of death begins to fall upon them, it is as ready to aid in their destruction. Like calumny, which blackens whatsoever is suspected, oxygen pounces upon the failing and completes their ruin. The processes of fermentation and putrefaction cannot commence in any substance, until it has first taken oxygen into combination. Thus, cans of meat, hermetically sealed, with all the air first carefully expelled, undergo no change so long as the air does not get access to them. If the minutest opening remain, the oxygen of the atmosphere combines ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 21, July, 1859 • Various

... doing discredit to the Bible then, or to adopt your own phrase, was undeceiving mankind as actively as at any time since: That you was acquainted with the open profanity of his conversation, and if we may take your word for it, was an earwitness of his oaths and execrations: Why did you not commence a champion in the cause of christianity some months earlier? it would have had a better appearance, if in your ebullient zeal you had endeavoured to prevent his disseminating such mischievous principles, and seasonably entered your caveat against the pernicious effects of his example. ...
— The Writings of Samuel Adams, volume II (1770 - 1773) - collected and edited by Harry Alonso Cushing • Samuel Adams

... to their dinner then, and when they had eaten it, the giant asked the tailor "would he dare to swallow as much boiling broth as himself." The tailor said, "I will certainly do that, but you must give me an hour before we commence." The tailor went out then, and he got a sheepskin, which he sewed up until he made a bag of it, and he slipped it down under his coat. He came in then and told the giant first to drink a gallon of the broth himself. The giant drank that up while it was boiling. "I'll ...
— Stories to Tell Children - Fifty-Four Stories With Some Suggestions For Telling • Sara Cone Bryant

... before the Eve of St. Barnabas, and to continue eight days, was granted by Henry III. by charter, to Ralph de Rhodes, Lord of the Manor. This is the present June Fair. A. second charter, granted by the same king, empowered the Lord of the Manor to hold an annual fair, to commence on the Eve of the Feast of St. Lawrence, and to continue seven days. This is the great August Fair, once perhaps the largest in the world, though now greatly reduced. Our third, or October, Fair was ...
— Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood - Historical, Anecdotal, Physiographical, and Archaeological, with Other Matter • J. Conway Walter

... character. When that was done, she was about to carry the babe to the house of the midwife, as Don Juan had recommended, but as she was passing with it before the door of the room wherein the lady was about to commence her history, the little creature began to cry aloud, insomuch that the lady heard it. She instantly rose to her feet, and set herself to listen, when the plaints of the infant arrived more distinctly to ...
— The Exemplary Novels of Cervantes • Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

... Happy Thought.—Will commence my Meditations. Head them Sunday Sayings. No, they're not sayings. Prefer alliterative title. Try Sunday Sighs. But they're not sighs. Try another, Sunday Sermons. No, they won't be sermons. Put down a lot of titles and see which I like. Sunday Songs. ...
— Happy-Thought Hall • F. C. Burnand

... In order to commence building we should have some definite idea with respect to the power, as this will, in a measure, determine the area of the supporting surfaces, as a whole, and from this the sizes of the ...
— Aeroplanes • J. S. Zerbe***

... office for Senators and members of the House of Representatives shall commence at ...
— School History of North Carolina • John W. Moore

... of the half-year. Phil had plenty of ways of passing the time. Hugh began a long letter home,—the very last letter, except the short formal one which should declare when the Christmas vacation should commence. Hugh meant to write half the letter before Saturday, and then fill it up with an account of ...
— The Crofton Boys • Harriet Martineau

... the Norsk mates departed than Captain Noah Kendall paid a visit to Captain McBride in command of the schooner Nokomis (also a Blue Star vessel), which had arrived that day and was waiting for the Retriever's berth at the mill dock, in order to commence loading. ...
— Cappy Ricks • Peter B. Kyne

... Both Souls united with the like affection; So very sweetly and with such delight, The swiftest Winged Minutes take their flight, And thus Gods Love to Mankind did dispence, The sacred Wedlock, which did then commence: Not founded as some Criticks say, by chance; But Heaven it self, did this blest State advance. Not subject to the various Revolutions, Of fickle fading human Institutions. A Married Life was first contriv'd above, To be an Emblem of Eternal Love; And after by Divine indulgence sent, To be the ...
— The Pleasures of a Single Life, or, The Miseries Of Matrimony • Anonymous

... "and you can make it yours. Come, I want to talk with you about your future, because I have been thinking very seriously about my own. I want to ask your advice and to give you mine. I'll commence by asking yours. What do you think of me as a physician? I know you are ...
— Henry James, Jr. • William Dean Howells

... commence by saying, "Lord, so teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom," for, as David says, "What is man that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou visitest him? Thou makest him to have dominion over the ...
— Lectures on Popular and Scientific Subjects • John Sutherland Sinclair, Earl of Caithness



Words linked to "Commence" :   jump off, embark on, get started, lead off, get cracking, come on, get going, set off, set out, open, introduce, launch, get weaving, attack, set about, get moving, usher in, strike out, bestir oneself, get down, enter, commencement, jump-start, break in, jumpstart, fall, get to, start out, plunge, end, get, embark, get rolling, begin



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