The Castle of Otrantoby Horace WalpolePREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.THE following work was found in the library of an ancient Catholic family in the north of England. It was printed at Naples, in the black letter, in the year 1529. How much sooner it was written does not appear. The principal incidents are such as were believed in the darkest ages of Christianity; but the language and conduct have nothing that savours of barbarism. The style is the purest Italian.If the story was written near the time when it is supposed to have happened, it must have been between 1095, the era of th
THE MODEL MILLIONAIREUNLESS one is wealthy there is no use in being a charming fellow.Romance is the privilege of the rich, not the profession of theunemployed. The poor should be practical and prosaic. It isbetter to have a permanent income than to be fascinating. Theseare the great truths of modern life which Hughie Erskine neverrealised. Poor Hughie! Intellectually, we must admit, he was notof much importance. He never said a brilliant or even an ill-natured thing in his life. But then he was wonderfully good-looking, with his crisp brown hair, his clear-cut profile, and his...
OF THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESSDavid Hume1741NOTHING is more apt to surprize a foreigner, than theextreme liberty, which we enjoy in this country, ofcommunicating whatever we please to the public, and ofopenly censuring every measure, entered into by the king orhis ministers. If the administration resolve upon war, it is...
Stories from Pentameroneby Giambattista BasileNOTEThe collection of folk-tales known as Il Pentamerone was firstpublished at Naples and in the Neopolitan dialect, by GiambattistaBasile, Conte di Torrone, who is believed to have collected themchiefly in Crete and Venice, and to have died about the year 1637.CONTENTS1. How the Tales came to be told2. The Myrtle3. Peruonto4. Vardiello5. The Flea6. Cenerentola7. The Merchant8. Goat-Face9. The Enchanted Doe10. Parsley11. The Three Sisters12. Violet13. Pippo14. The Serpent...
THE CELESTIAL RAILROADNot a great while ago, passing through the gate of dreams, Ivisited that region of the earth in which lies the famous City ofDestruction. It interested me much to learn that by the publicspirit of some of the inhabitants a railroad has recently beenestablished between this populous and flourishing town and theCelestial City. Having a little time upon my hands, I resolved togratify a liberal curiosity by making a trip thither.Accordingly, one fine morning after paying my bill at the hotel,and directing the porter to stow my luggage behind a coach, I...
Sons of the Soilby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Katharine Prescott WormeleyDEDICATIONTo Monsieur P. S. B. Gavault.Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote these words at the beginning of hisNouvelle Heloise: "I have seen the morals of my time and I publishthese letters." May I not say to you, in imitation of that greatwriter, "I have studied the march of my epoch and I publish thiswork"?The object of this particular studystartling in its truth solong as society makes philanthropy a principle instead ofregarding it as an accidentis to bring to sight the leading...
Eminent Victoriansby Lytton StracheyPrefaceTHE history of the Victorian Age will never be written; we knowtoo much about it. For ignorance is the first requisite of thehistorianignorance, which simplifies and clarifies, whichselects and omits, with a placid perfection unattainable by thehighest art. Concerning the Age which has just passed, ourfathers and our grandfathers have poured forth and accumulated sovast a quantity of information that the industry of a Ranke wouldbe submerged by it, and the perspicacity of a Gibbon would quail...
Samuel Brohl & Companyby Victor CherbuliezCHAPTER IWere the events of this nether sphere governed by the calculus of probabilities, Count Abel Larinski and Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz would almost unquestionably have arrived at the end of their respective careers without ever having met. Count Larinski lived in Vienna, Austria; Mlle. Moriaz never had been farther from Paris than Cormeilles, where she went every spring to remain throughout the fine weather. Neither at Cormeilles nor at Paris had she ever heard of Count Larinski; and he, on his part, was wholly unaware of the existence of Mlle. Mor
Madame BovaryBy Gustave FlaubertTranslated from the French by Eleanor Marx-AvelingTo Marie-Antoine-Jules SenardMember of the Paris Bar, Ex-President of the National Assembly,and Former Minister of the InteriorDear and Illustrious Friend,Permit me to inscribe your name at the head of this book, andabove its dedication; for it is to you, before all, that I oweits publication. Reading over your magnificent defence, my workhas acquired for myself, as it were, an unexpected authority.Accept, then, here, the homage of my gratitude, which, how greatsoever it is, will never attain the height of your
The Writings of Abraham Lincolnby Abraham LincolnVOLUME SIXWRITINGS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN1862-1863RECOMMENDATION OF NAVAL OFFICERSMESSAGE TO CONGRESS.WASHINGTON, D.C., May 14, 1862.TO SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:The third section of the "Act further to promote the efficiency ofthe Navy," approved 21st of December, 1861, provides:"That the President of the United States by and with the advice andconsent of the Senate, shall have the authority to detail from theretired list of the navy for the command of squadrons and single...
Lecture IVThe Tribe and the LandIt has been very commonly believed that, before the agrarianmeasures of James the First, Ireland was one of the countries inwhich private property in land was invested with leastsacredness, and in which forms of ownership generally consideredas barbarous most extensively prevailed. Spenser and Daviscertainly suggest this opinion, and several modern writers haveadopted it. The Brehon law-tracts prove, however, that it can...
The Complete Writings of Charles Dudley Warner Volume 4by Charles Dudley WarnerCONTENTS:BEING A BOYON HORSEBACKBEING A BOYOne of the best things in the world to be is a boy; it requires no experience, though it needs some practice to be a good one. The disadvantage of the position is that it does not last long enough; it is soon over; just as you get used to being a boy, you have to be something else, with a good deal more work to do and not half so much fun. And yet every boy is anxious to be a man, and is very uneasy with the restrictions that are put upon him as a boy. Good fun as it is
George Cruikshankby William Makepeace ThackerayAccusations of ingratitude, and just accusations no doubt, are madeagainst every inhabitant of this wicked world, and the fact is, thata man who is ceaselessly engaged in its trouble and turmoil, bornehither and thither upon the fierce waves of the crowd, bustling,shifting, struggling to keep himself somewhat above waterfightingfor reputation, or more likely for bread, and ceaselessly occupiedto-day with plans for appeasing the eternal appetite of inevitablehunger to-morrowa man in such straits has hardly time to think of...
Once there was a miller who was poor, but who had a beautifuldaughter. Now it happened that he had to go and speak to theking, and in order to make himself appear important he saidto him, I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold. Theking said to the miller, that is an art whichpleases me well, if your daughter is as clever as you say, bringher to-morrow to my palace, and I will put her to the test.And when the girl was brought to him he took her into a roomwhich was quite full of straw, gave her a spinning-wheel and areel, and said, now set to work, and if by to-morrow morning...
AS CONCERNS INTERPRETING THE DEITYIThis line of hieroglyphics was for fourteen years thedespair of all the scholars who labored over the mysteries of theRosetta stone: [Figure 1]After five years of study Champollion translated it thus:Therefore let the worship of Epiphanes be maintained in allthe temples, this upon pain of death.That was the twenty-forth translation that had beenfurnished by scholars. For a time it stood. But only for atime. Then doubts began to assail it and undermine it, and thescholars resumed their labors. Three years of patient work...
Fantastic Fablesby Ambrose BierceContents:The Moral Principle and the Material InterestThe Crimson CandleThe Blotted Escutcheon and the Soiled ErmineThe Ingenious PatriotTwo KingsAn Officer and a ThugThe Conscientious OfficialHow Leisure CameThe Moral SentimentThe PoliticiansThe Thoughtful WardenThe Treasury and the ArmsThe Christian SerpentThe Broom of the TempleThe CriticsThe Foolish WomanFather and SonThe Discontented Malefactor...