Old Christmasby Washington IrvingBut is old, old, good old Christmas gone? Nothing but the hair ofhis good, gray, old head and beard left? Well, I will have that,seeing that I cannot have more of him.Hue and Cry after Christmas.CONTENTSCHRISTMASTHE STAGE-COACHCHRISTMAS EVECHRISTMAS DAYTHE CHRISTMAS DINNERA man might then beholdAt Christmas, in each hallGood fires to curb the cold,And meat for great and small.The neighbours were friendly bidden,And all had welcome true,The poor from the gates were not chidden,...
The Essays of Montaigne, V16by Michel de MontaigneTranslated by Charles CottonEdited by William Carew Hazilitt1877CONTENTS OF VOLUME 16.VI. Of Coaches.VII. Of the Inconvenience of Greatness.VIII. Of the Art of Conference.CHAPTER VIOF COACHESIt is very easy to verify, that great authors, when they write of causes,not only make use of those they think to be the true causes, but also ofthose they believe not to be so, provided they have in them some beautyand invention: they speak true and usefully enough, if it be ingeniously....
The VillageAfter hoeing, or perhaps reading and writing, in the forenoon, Iusually bathed again in the pond, swimming across one of its covesfor a stint, and washed the dust of labor from my person, orsmoothed out the last wrinkle which study had made, and for theafternoon was absolutely free. Every day or two I strolled to thevillage to hear some of the gossip which is incessantly going onthere, circulating either from mouth to mouth, or from newspaper tonewspaper, and which, taken in homoeopathic doses, was really as...
The Sleeping-Car - A Farceby William D. HowellsI.SCENE: One side of a sleeping-car on the Boston and Albany Road.The curtains are drawn before most of the berths; from the hooks androds hang hats, bonnets, bags, bandboxes, umbrellas, and othertravelling gear; on the floor are boots of both sexes, set out forTHE PORTER to black. THE PORTER is making up the beds in the upperand lower berths adjoining the seats on which a young mother, slenderand pretty, with a baby asleep on the seat beside her, and a stoutold lady, sit confronting each otherMRS. AGNES ROBERTS and her aunt...
The American RepublicCONSTITUTION, TENDENCIES, AND DESTINYby O. A. BrownsonTO THEHON. GEORGE BANCROFT,THE ERUDITE, PHILOSOPHICAL, AND ELOQUENTHistorian of the United States,THIS FEEBLE ATTEMPT TO SET FORTH THE PRINCIPLES OF GOVERN-MENT, AND TO EXPLAIN AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION OFTHE AMERICAN REPUBLIC, IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,IN MEMORY OF OLD FRIENDSHIP, AND AS ASLIGHT HOMAGE TO GENIUS, ABILITY,PATRIOTISM, PRIVATE WORTH,AND PUBLIC SERVICE,BY THE AUTHOR.CONTENTS.PAGE...
Michael Strogoffby Jules VerneorThe Courier of the CzarMichael StrogoffBOOK ICHAPTER I A FETE AT THE NEW PALACE"SIRE, a fresh dispatch.""Whence?""From Tomsk?""Is the wire cut beyond that city?""Yes, sire, since yesterday.""Telegraph hourly to Tomsk, General, and keep me informedof all that occurs.""Sire, it shall be done," answered General Kissoff.These words were exchanged about two hours after midnight,at the moment when the fete given at the New Palace was atthe height of its splendor.During the whole evening the bands of the Preobra-jensky and Paulowsky...
Messer Marco Polo by Brian Oswald Donn-ByrneA NOTE ON THE AUTHOR OF MESSER MARCO POLOSo Celtic in feeling and atmosphere are the stories of Donn Byrne that many of his devotees have come to believe that he never lived anywhere but in Ireland. Actually, Donn Byrne was born in New York City. Shortly after his birth, however, his parents took him back to the land of his forefathers. There he was educated and came to know the people of whom he wrote so magically. At Dublin University his love for the Irish language and for a good fight won him many prizes, first as a writer in Gaelic and seco
The Bravo of Venice - A Romanceby M. G. LewisINTRODUCTION.Matthew Gregory Lewis, who professed to have translated this romanceout of the German, very much, I believe, as Horace Walpole professedto have taken The Castle of Otranto from an old Italian manuscript,was born in 1775 of a wealthy family. His father had an estate inIndia and a post in a Government office. His mother was daughter toSir Thomas Sewell, Master of the Rolls in the reign of George III.She was a young mother; her son Matthew was devoted to her from the...
The Story of an African Farmby Olive Schreiner (Ralph Iron)Preface.I have to thank cordially the public and my critics for the reception theyhave given this little book.Dealing with a subject that is far removed from the round of English dailylife, it of necessity lacks the charm that hangs about the idealrepresentation of familiar things, and its reception has therefore been themore kindly.A word of explanation is necessary. Two strangers appear on the scene, andsome have fancied that in the second they have again the first, who returns...
MOTHER HOLLEONCE upon a time there was a widow who had two daughters;one of them was pretty and clever, and the other ugly andlazy. But as the ugly one was her own daughter, she liked her farthe best of the two, and the pretty one had to do all the work of thehouse, and was in fact the regular maid of all work. Every day shehad to sit by a well on the high road, and spin till her fingers wereso sore that they often bled. One day some drops of blood fell onher spindle, so she dipped it into the well meaning to wash it, but, asluck would have it, it dropped from her hand and fell right in. She.
Heidiby Johanna SpyriCONTENTSI Up the Mountain to Alm-UncleII At Home with GrandfatherIII Out with the GoatsIV The Visit to GrandmotherV Two Visits and What Came of ThemVI A New Chapter about New ThingsVII Fraulein Rottenmeier Spends an Uncomfortable DayVIII There is Great Commotion in the Large HouseIX Herr Sesemann Hears of Things that are New to HimX Another GrandmotherXI Heidi Gains in One Way and Loses in AnotherXII A Ghost in the HouseXIII A Summer Evening on the MountainXIV Sunday BellsXV Preparations for a journey...
Michael, Brother of Jerryby Jack LondonFOREWORDVery early in my life, possibly because of the insatiable curiosity that was born in me, I came to dislike the performances of trained animals. It was my curiosity that spoiled for me this form of amusement, for I was led to seek behind the performance in order to learn how the performance was achieved. And what I found behind the brave show and glitter of performance was not nice. It was a body of cruelty so horrible that I am confident no normal person exists who, once aware of it, could ever enjoy looking on at any trained-animal turn....
Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of Warby Frederick A. TalbotPREFACEEver since the earliest days of the great conquest of the air,first by the dirigible balloon and then by the aeroplane, theiruse in time of war has been a fruitful theme for discussion. Buttheir arrival was of too recent a date, their many utilities toounexplored to provide anything other than theories, manyobviously untenable, others avowedly problematical.Yet the part airships have played in the Greatest War has come asa surprise even to their most convinced advocates. For every...
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...
FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE RACESby Hans Christian AndersenA PRIZE, or rather two prizes, a great one and a small one, hadbeen awarded for the greatest swiftness in running,- not in a singlerace, but for the whole year."I obtained the first prize," said the hare. "Justice must stillbe carried out, even when one has relations and good friends among theprize committee; but that the snail should have received the secondprize, I consider almost an insult to myself"...
THE MUDFOG AND OTHER SKETCHESPUBLIC LIFE OF MR. TULRUMBLE - ONCE MAYOR OF MUDFOGMudfog is a pleasant town - a remarkably pleasant town - situatedin a charming hollow by the side of a river, from which river,Mudfog derives an agreeable scent of pitch, tar, coals, and rope-yarn, a roving population in oilskin hats, a pretty steady influxof drunken bargemen, and a great many other maritime advantages.There is a good deal of water about Mudfog, and yet it is notexactly the sort of town for a watering-place, either. Water is a...