The Poor Clareby Elizabeth GaskellCHAPTER I.December 12th, 1747.My life has been strangely bound up with extraordinary incidents, some of which occurred before I had any connection with the principal actors in them, or indeed, before I even knew of their existence. I suppose, most old men are, like me, more given to looking back upon their own career with a kind of fond interest and affectionate remembrance, than to watching the events though these may have far more interest for the multitude immediately passing before their eyes. If this should be the case with the generality of old people
THE DEVIL IN MANUSCRIPTOn a bitter evening of December, I arrived by mail in a largetown, which was then the residence of an intimate friend, one ofthose gifted youths who cultivate poetry and the belles-lettres,and call themselves students at law. My first business, aftersupper, was to visit him at the office of his distinguishedinstructor. As I have said, it was a bitter night, clearstarlight, but cold as Nova Zembla,the shop-windows along thestreet being frosted, so as almost to hide the lights, while thewheels of coaches thundered equally loud over frozen earth and...
The Cruise of the Jasper B.by Don MarquisTO ALL THE COPYREADERS ON ALL THE NEWSPAPERS OF AMERICACHAPTER IA BRIGHT BLADE LEAPS FROM A RUSTY SCABBARDOn an evening in April, 191-, Clement J. Cleggett walked sedatelyinto the news room of the New York Enterprise with a drab-coloredwalking-stick in his hand. He stood the cane in a corner,changed his sober street coat for a more sober office jacket,adjusted a green eyeshade below his primly brushed grayish hair,unostentatiously sat down at the copy desk, and unobtrusively...
A MOONLIGHT FABLEThere was once a little man whose mother made him a beautiful suitof clothes. It was green and gold and woven so that I cannotdescribe how delicate and fine it was, and there was a tie oforange fluffiness that tied up under his chin. And the buttonsin their newness shone like stars. He was proud and pleased by hissuit beyond measure, and stood before the long looking-glass whenfirst he put it on, so astonished and delighted with it that hecould hardly turn himself away.He wanted to wear it everywhere and show it to all sorts of...
METEOROLOGYby Aristotletranslated by E. W. WebsterBook I1WE have already discussed the first causes of nature, and allnatural motion, also the stars ordered in the motion of the heavens,and the physical element-enumerating and specifying them and showinghow they change into one another-and becoming and perishing ingeneral. There remains for consideration a part of this inquiry...
EPILOGUEMOONSTONE again, in the year 1909. The Metho-dists are giving an ice-cream sociable in the groveabout the new court-house. It is a warm summer night offull moon. The paper lanterns which hang among thetrees are foolish toys, only dimming, in little lurid circles,the great softness of the lunar light that floods the blueheavens and the high plateau. To the east the sand hillsshine white as of old, but the empire of the sand is grad-ually diminishing. The grass grows thicker over the dunes...
SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND OF EXPERIENCEand THE BOOK of THELby William BlakeSONGS OF INNOCENCEINTRODUCTIONPiping down the valleys wild,Piping songs of pleasant glee,On a cloud I saw a child,And he laughing said to me:"Pipe a song about a Lamb!"So I piped with merry cheer."Piper, pipe that song again;"So I piped: he wept to hear."Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe;Sing thy songs of happy cheer:!"...
Recollections of the Private Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, V1by ConstantTRANSLATED BY WALTER CLARKCONTENTS:CHAPTER I. to CHAPTER VI.PREFACEThough this work was first published in 1830, it has never before beentranslated into English. Indeed, the volumes are almost out of print.When in Paris a few years ago the writer secured, with much difficulty,a copy, from which this translation has been made. Notes have been addedby the translator, and illustrations by the publishers, which, it isbelieved, will enhance the interest of the original work by Constant....
The Plays of W. E. Henley and R. L. StevensonWilliam Ernest Henley and Robert Louis StevensonHenley is best known for this quote from Invictus:"I am the master of my fate,I am the captain of my soul."INVICTUSOut of the night that covers me,Black as the pit from pole to pole,I think whatever gods may befor my unconquerable soul.In the fell clutch of circumstanceI have not winced nor cried aloud.Under the bludgeonings of chanceMy head is bloody, but unbowed.Beyond this place of wrath and tearsLooms but the Horror of the shade,And yet the menace of the years...
An Old Town By The Seaby Thomas Bailey AldrichPISCATAQUA RIVERThou singest by the gleaming isles,By woods, and fields of corn,Thou singest, and the sunlight smilesUpon my birthday morn.But I within a city, I,So full of vague unrest,Would almost give my life to lieAn hour upon upon thy breast.To let the wherry listless go,And, wrapt in dreamy joy,Dip, and surge idly to and fro,Like the red harbor-buoy;To sit in happy indolence,To rest upon the oars,And catch the heavy earthy scentsThat blow from summer shores;To see the rounded sun go down,...
Men of Invention and Industryby Samuel Smiles"Men there have been, ignorant of letters; without art, withouteloquence; who yet had the wisdom to devise and the courage toperform that which they lacked language to explain. Such menhave worked the deliverance of nations and their own greatness.Their hearts are their books; events are their tutors; greatactions are their eloquence."MACAULAY.Contents.PrefaceCHAPTER I Phineas Pett:Beginings of English ShipbuildingCHAPTER II Francis Pettit Smith:...
My Memories of Eighty Yearsby Chauncey M. DepewTO MY WIFE MAY PALMER DEPEW THIS BOOK GREW FROM HER ENCOURAGEMENTFOREWORDFor many years my friends have insisted upon my putting in permanent form the incidents in my life which have interested them. It has been my good fortune to take part in history-making meetings and to know more or less intimately people prominent in world affairs in many countries. Every one so situated has a flood of recollections which pour out when occasion stirs the memory. Often the listeners wish these transcribed for their own use....
THE WALLET OF KAI LUNGBY ERNEST BRAMAH"Ho, illustrious passers-by!" says Kai Lung ashe spreads out his embroidered mat under themulberry-tree. "It is indeed unlikely that youcould condescend to stop and listen to thefoolish words of such an insignificant andaltogether deformed person as myself.Nevertheless, if you will but retard yourelegant footsteps for a few moments, thisexceedingly unprepossessing individual willendeavour to entertain you." This is a...
THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMESThe Adventure of the Blue CarbuncleI had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the secondmorning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him thecompliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in apurple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the right,and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly studied,near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and on theangle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable hard-felt...
Ivanoffby Anton CheckovA PLAYCHARACTERSNICHOLAS IVANOFF, perpetual member of the Council of PeasantAffairsANNA, his wife. Nee Sarah AbramsonMATTHEW SHABELSKI, a count, uncle of IvanoffPAUL LEBEDIEFF, President of the Board of the ZemstvoZINAIDA, his wifeSASHA, their daughter, twenty years oldLVOFF, a young government doctorMARTHA BABAKINA, a young widow, owner of an estate and daughterof a rich merchantKOSICH, an excisemanMICHAEL BORKIN, a distant relative of Ivanoff, and manager of hisestateAVDOTIA NAZAROVNA, an old woman...
Cratylusby PlatoTranslated by Benjamin JowettINTRODUCTION.The Cratylus has always been a source of perplexity to the student ofPlato. While in fancy and humour, and perfection of style and metaphysicaloriginality, this dialogue may be ranked with the best of the Platonicwritings, there has been an uncertainty about the motive of the piece,which interpreters have hitherto not succeeded in dispelling. We need notsuppose that Plato used words in order to conceal his thoughts, or that hewould have been unintelligible to an educated contemporary. In the...