Excerpt from Orient With Preludes on Current Events "If intellectual faculties arc common to all men, reason is also; if reason is common to all, then conscience, which commands us what to do and what not to do, is common also; if this is so, there is a common law also; if this is so, we are all members of some political community; and if this is so, the whole world is in a manner one state." - Marcus Aurelius: Thoughts "The sun-orb sings, in emulation, 'Mid brother spheres, his ancient round: His path predestined through creation He ends with step of thunder sound. The angels from his vision splendid Draw power whose measure none can say; The lofty works, uncomprehended, Are bright as on the earliest day. "And swift and swift beyond conceiving, The splendor of the world goes round; Day's Eden-brightness still relieving The awful Night's intense profound: The ocean tides in foam are breaking, Against the rocks' deep bases hurled, And both, the spheric race partaking, Eternal, swift, are onward hurled." Goethe, Faust (Taylor's tr.), Prologue in Heaven. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.