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That said -- this book is not simply a vocabulary, or a grammatical treatise. It also includes dozens of insights into the daily life of the Narragansett tribe, at a time when most of them lived as they had from time immemorial. Every chapter includes not only the actual vocabulary appropriate to the topic under discussion, but also several paragraphs talking about the lives of the Narragansett. Sometimes Roger Williams ends a chapter with a little pedantic poem, but hey, cut him some slack -- he was a creature of his times, as are we all.
Here are a couple of things that I wish someone had told ME about, before I discovered this amazing little volume. First and formost -- the table of contents is at the END of the book, not the beginning. It does exist, you didn't get a defective copy. Second -- for a funny, fascinating set of examples of early native american onomatopeia, look in the sections on "Fowles" and "Beastes." Evidently, the Narragansetts told Roger Williams that they called a duck a "quequecum," a wild goose was called a "honck-honck," and a horse (which they learned about from the English) was called a "nay-nay-oumewot." Maybe this is just my own sense of humor, but I enjoyed envisioning a stern, austere, Godly Puritan, wearing heavy black clothes in summertime (and the hat with the little buckle on front), sitting down with a solemn circle of sunburned sachems, and doing bird calls. I can just picture the Cambridge-educated Roger Williams earnestly scribbling notes in his notebook, while the sachems sat there, pointed at birds outside the wigwam, and went "quack quack" and "honk honk" for his edification. I thought the duck was especially funny -- "Ah yes.... we callum that birdum a quequecum, Good Reverend Williams."
That is a minor point, but it does make the book a little more fun. Basically, however, let me hasten to add that this book is far more than fun. It is ultimately VERY serious. It's one of the few remaining sources of information into the tongues spoken by the early natives of southern New England. If you are capable of appreciating this, I recommend you look for anything by Kathleen Bragdon, or Ives Goddard, who have done a lot of work trying to keep the memories of these lost languages alive. If you prefer libraries to the internet, try to find articles by the 19th century Connecticut state librarian J. Hammond Trumbull, who wrote many articles on native New England place names, and Eastern Algonquin languages in general. You may also wish to seek out John Eliot's "Indian Bible," which is incredibly hard to find in print, but was put on microfilm by University Microfilms in Michigan. The "Indian Bible" was composed, with the able assistance of native speakers, in the Massachusett dialect of Algonquin, which is very closely related to Narragansett. Another little gem is William Woods' "New England Prospect," which includes a handy little SHORT vocabulary. Also, if you're internet-savvy enough, you might enjoy seeking out the work of Jessie "Little Doe" Fermino, a native Wampanoag in Mashpee, Massachusetts, who has recently been developing language classes in the tongue of the Wampanoag tribe.
But back to this book -- it is highly informative, and a tremendous boon to students of early native Americans in New England. Two thumbs up.
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The only change since 1952 is in me, in that now I can see Mr. Williams was talking about the Knack of Using our Soul and its wisdom.
Read his book substituting your favorite word or words for Unconscious be it Soul, High Self, God within, Atman etc. The materail is still excellent.
I highly recommend reading and using the insights offered.
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The last twelve verses of Mark's Gospel (Mark 16:9-20) remain one of the largest, if not THE largest, consecutive group of allegedly spurious verses in the Bible. In this work, Burgon settles the question once and for all.
Originally intended for biblical scholars, this book will prove quite difficult for the average reader, because of its highly academic writing style of the period and because of its numerous footnotes and other passages that quote ancient sources in the original Greek and Latin without English translation. Yet, the depth of Burgon's textual criticism and research will stagger the honest reader. Beginning with external evidence, he examines hundreds of cursive and uncial Greek manuscripts which date at least from the fourth century, ten early Bible versions which date from the second to the sixth centuries, the individual writings of 19 early Church Fathers from all over the then-known world who wrote between the early second to the mid sixth centuries, and all known copies of the venerable Lectionary of the East. Then he turns to the internal evidence, or the writing style of St. Mark himself, and compares the verses in question to Mark's remaining Gospel, with particular attention given to the parallelism found in the first twelve verses of chapter 1.
With the exception of two manuscripts, not only do all of the other sources above contain or make reference to Mark 16:9-20, Burgon shows that these same verses match Mark's writing style to boot. Moreover, certain Church Fathers, who by tradition were considered hostile to Mark 16:9-20, namely Gregory of Nysa, Eusebius, Jerome, Severus of Antioch, Hesychius of Jerusalem, Victor of Antioch, and Euthymius Zigabenus, are proven instead to be favorable. To Burgon, this overwhelming wealth of evidence proves that these verses are genuine. The honest reader must surely agree.
The two manuscripts which completely lack Mark 16:9-20 are the infamous Codex B (Vaticanus) and Codex Aleph (Sinaiticus). Dating from the fourth century, they are the two oldest copies of the Gospels extant, which, in part, probably influenced Burgon's liberal contemporaries to reject these verses as genuine. Yet Burgon clearly shows that these two manuscripts are monstrously flawed throughout. Discrepancies are so numerous that he remarks, "It is easier to find two consecutive verses in which the two MSS. [manuscripts] differ, the one from the other, than two consecutive verses in which they entirely agree." Thus, neither of these two manuscripts are reliable sources for any of the Gospels, and they seriously impact on modern Bible translations (see below).
Also included in this edition is a helpful 36-page summary with commentary by Rev. D.A. Waite, president of The Dean Burgon Society. He reminds us that, despite Burgon's research, most modern Bible translations today (NKJV, NASV, NIV, RSV, NRSV, NEV, TEV, CEV, and others) continue to regard Mark 16:9-20 and other passages as spurious. The reason lies in the fact that liberal scholars, who in many places actually doubt the Word of God, have chosen to base most modern NT translations primarily on those two flawed manuscripts, Codex B and Codex Aleph. Westcott and Hort's Revised Greek Text of 1881 is a prime example, which alters the Greek New Testament (Traditional Greek Text or Textus Receptus) over 5,600 times.
Modern translations place allegedly spurious passages in brackets, reduce them to footnotes, or eliminate them altogether. In so doing, these modern translations can do much to dissuade people from belief in the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture. Thanks to the work of Christian scholars like Dean John W. Burgon, however, discerning Christians will reject those modern translations that promote such error.
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The opening chapters of the book focus on the unique nature of the attorney/client relationship and how this relationship impacts the allowable fee. As trusted advisor to the client, the attorney has an obligation to charge only a "reasonable" fee. The lawyer is not free to strike any deal with a client. This is becuase the client relies on an attorney not just to protect his rights in a litigation or transaction, but to properly define the scope of what needs to be done. The book goes through some examples where courts reviewed engagement letters and bills to judge whether the resulting fee was "reasonable."
The book also details a group of questionable billing practices. There are many creative ways in which some lawyers add dollar amounts to their bills. Among the billing practices discussed were charging clients for firm overhead, charging senior lawyer time for simple or clerical tasks, and charging a client for recycled work (i.e. work done for another client in a similar matter). Thankfully, most courts are not hesitant to clamp down on such abuses. The later portion of the book gives clients tips on how to manage fees and detect abuses, and lawyers advice on how to manage their cases to maximize productivity and avoid unethical billing practices.
My only modest criticism is that the authors spent less than two pages discussing class action fees.... Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book to lawyers and clients alike.