Chapter 1 of John Williams is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of John Williams is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
JOHN WILLIAMS, OR THE SAILOR BOY. “First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.” BOSTON, BOWLES AND DEARBORN, 72 WASHINGTON STREET. Isaac R. Butts & Co. Printers. 1827.
Chapter 1 of John Williams is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/34 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
plural of “blessing” — the formal act of approving
From this reading ““First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.””
third-person singular of “bowl” — roll (a ball)
From this reading “BOSTON, BOWLES AND DEARBORN, 72 WASHINGTON STREET.”
plural of “butt” — thick end of the handle
From this reading “Isaac R. Butts & Co. Printers.”
(Old Testament) the second patriarch; son of Abraham and Sarah who was offered by Abraham as a sacrifice to God; father of Jacob and Esau
From this reading “Isaac R. Butts & Co. Printers.”
plural of “printer” — someone whose occupation is printing
From this reading “Isaac R. Butts & Co. Printers.”
remove impurities from, increase the concentration of, and separate through the process of distillation
From this reading ““First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.””
possessive form of “religion” — a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny
United States country singer and songwriter (1923-1953)
From this reading “JOHN WILLIAMS, OR THE SAILOR BOY.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 1827.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BOSTON, BOWLES AND DEARBORN, 72 WASHINGTON STREET.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading BOSTON, BOWLES AND DEARBORN, 72 WASHINGTON STREET.
plural of “blessing” — the formal act of approving
From this reading “First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.”
state capital and largest city of Massachusetts; a major center for banking and financial services
From this reading BOSTON, BOWLES AND DEARBORN, 72 WASHINGTON STREET.
third-person singular of “bowl” — roll (a ball)
From this reading BOSTON, BOWLES AND DEARBORN, 72 WASHINGTON STREET.
a youthful male person
From this reading JOHN WILLIAMS, OR THE SAILOR BOY.
plural of “butt” — thick end of the handle
From this reading Isaac R. Butts & Co. Printers.
an odorless very poisonous gas that is a product of incomplete combustion of carbon
From this reading Isaac R. Butts & Co. Printers.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BOSTON, BOWLES AND DEARBORN, 72 WASHINGTON STREET.
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading “First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.”
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading “First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.”
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading “First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.”
(Old Testament) the second patriarch; son of Abraham and Sarah who was offered by Abraham as a sacrifice to God; father of Jacob and Esau
From this reading Isaac R. Butts & Co. Printers.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading JOHN WILLIAMS, OR THE SAILOR BOY.
an artificial source of visible illumination
From this reading “First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.”
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading “First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.”
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading “First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.”
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading JOHN WILLIAMS, OR THE SAILOR BOY.
plural of “printer” — someone whose occupation is printing
From this reading Isaac R. Butts & Co. Printers.
free of extraneous elements of any kind
From this reading “First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.”
remove impurities from, increase the concentration of, and separate through the process of distillation
From this reading “First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.”
a unit of radiation exposure; the dose of ionizing radiation that will produce 1 electrostatic unit of electricity in 1 cc of dry air
From this reading Isaac R. Butts & Co. Printers.
possessive form of “religion” — a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny
From this reading “First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.”
any member of a ship's crew
From this reading JOHN WILLIAMS, OR THE SAILOR BOY.
an old form of “shall”, used with “thou”
From this reading “First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.”
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading “First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.”
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading BOSTON, BOWLES AND DEARBORN, 72 WASHINGTON STREET.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading JOHN WILLIAMS, OR THE SAILOR BOY.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading “First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.”
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading “First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.”
the capital of the United States in the District of Columbia and a tourist mecca; George Washington commissioned Charles L'Enfant to lay out the city in 1791
From this reading BOSTON, BOWLES AND DEARBORN, 72 WASHINGTON STREET.
United States country singer and songwriter (1923-1953)
From this reading JOHN WILLIAMS, OR THE SAILOR BOY.
in the company of; together with
From this reading “First purify the heart, then light the mind With pure Religion’s lamp, so shalt thou blessings find.”
Chapter 1 of John Williams by Dorothea Lynde Dix holds 173 sentences, grouped into 35 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 1 holds 173 sentences of John Williams, unabridged, divided into 35 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of John Williams by Dorothea Lynde Dix exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 173 sentences, grouped into 35 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 35 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 35 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 1 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading John Williams by Dorothea Lynde Dix on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 173 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #71036 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #71036, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 14 minutes of reading across 35 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through John Williams section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of John Williams to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in John Williams, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
