Project Gutenberg's The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, by Ambrose Bierce

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

Title: The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce

Author: Ambrose Bierce

Release Date: September 27, 2004 [EBook #13541]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS OF BIERCE ***

Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Barbara Tozier and the PG Online
Distributed Proofreading Team

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF

AMBROSE BIERCE

VOLUME 1

1909

CONTENTS

ASHES OF THE BEACON

THE LAND BEYOND THE BLOW
THITHER
SONS OF THE FAIR STAR
AN INTERVIEW WITH GNARMAG-ZOTE
THE TAMTONIANS
MAROONED ON UG
THE DOG IN GANGEWAG
A CONFLAGRATION IN GHARGAROO
AN EXECUTION IN BATRUGIA
THE JUMJUM OF GOKEETLE-GUK
THE KINGDOM OF TORTIRRA
HITHER

FOR THE AHKOOND

JOHN SMITH, LIBERATOR

BITS OF AUTOBIOGRAPHY
ON A MOUNTAIN
WHAT I SAW OF SHILOH
A LITTLE OF CHICKAMAUCA
THE CRIME AT PICKETT'S MILL
FOUR DAYS IN DIXIE
WHAT OCCURRED AT FRANKLIN
'WAY DOWN IN ALABAM'
WORKING FOR AN EMPRESS
ACROSS THE PLAINS
THE MIRAGE
A SOLE SURVIVOR

ASHES OF THE BEACON

ASHES OF THE BEACON

AN HISTORICAL MONOGRAPH WRITTEN IN 4930

Of the many causes that conspired to bring about the lamentable failure of
"self-government" in ancient America the most general and comprehensive
was, of course, the impracticable nature of the system itself. In the
light of modern culture, and instructed by history, we readily discern the
folly of those crude ideas upon which the ancient Americans based what
they knew as "republican institutions," and maintained, as long as
maintenance was possible, with something of a religious fervor, even when
the results were visibly disastrous. To us of to-day it is clear that the
word "self-government" involves a contradiction, for government means
control by something other than the thing to be controlled. When the thing
governed is the same as the thing governing there is no government, though
for a time there may be, as in the case under consideration there was, a
considerable degree of forbearance, giving a misleading appearance of
public order. This, however, s