Christmas Stories : Containing John Wildgoose the Poacher, the Smuggler, and Good-nature, or Parish Matters

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Berens, Edward, 1777?-1859

Contributor:

Cruikshank, George, 1792-1878

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"Christmas Stories" by Edward Berens is a collection of short stories written in the early 19th century. The opening tale, "The History of John Wildgoose," focuses on the life of Thomas Wildgoose, a hardworking man who faces tragedy and moral dilemmas after becoming a poacher. The narrative explores themes of conformity to law, family responsibility, and the impact of poor choices on both personal and community levels. The beginning of the collection introduces Thomas Wildgoose, who leads a simple, honest life until a tragic accident leaves him seriously injured. As he prepares for his death, he makes provisions for his family, revealing his love for them. The story then transitions to his wife, Susan, who struggles to cope with her husband's passing while finding a way to support her children. The tale hints at the challenges their children, particularly their son John, will face as he is drawn into a life of poaching due to bad company, setting the stage for a moral decline that threatens to unravel their family's integrity. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Credits:

Produced by Heather Clark, billyeiser and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print project.)

Notes:

Reading ease score: 72.2 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read.

Release date is 2011-02-25