The Inca of Perusalemby George Bernard ShawAN ALMOST HISTORICAL COMEDIETTAI must remind the reader that this playlet was written when itsprincipal character, far from being a fallen foe and virtually aprisoner in our victorious hands, was still the Caesar whoselegions we were resisting with our hearts in our mouths. Manywere so horribly afraid of him that they could not forgive me fornot being afraid of him: I seemed to be trifling heartlessly witha deadly peril. I knew better; and I have represented Caesar asknowing better himself. But it was one of the quaintnesses of...　

Critiasby PlatoTranslated by Benjamin JowettINTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS.The Critias is a fragment which breaks off in the middle of a sentence. Itwas designed to be the second part of a trilogy, which, like the othergreat Platonic trilogy of the Sophist, Statesman, Philosopher, was nevercompleted. Timaeus had brought down the origin of the world to thecreation of man, and the dawn of history was now to succeed the philosophyof nature. The Critias is also connected with the Republic. Plato, as he...　

Of the Jealousy of Tradeby David HumeHaving endeavoured to remove one species of ill-founded jealousy,which is so prevalent among commercial nations, it may not beamiss to mention another, which seems equally groundless. Nothingis more usual, among states which have made some advances incommerce, than to look on the progress of their neighbours with asuspicious eye, to consider all trading states as their rivals,and to suppose that it is impossible for any of them to flourish,but at their expence. In opposition to this narrow and malignantopinion, I will venture to assert, that the encrease o　

The Lumley Autographby Susan Fenimore Cooper[Not long since an American author received an application from aGerman correspondent for "a few Autographs"the number of namesapplied for amounting to more than a hundred, and covering severalsheets of foolscap. A few years since an Englishman of literary notesent his Album to a distinguished poet in Paris for his contribution,when the volume was actually stolen from a room where every otherarticle was left untouched; showing that Autographs were morevaluable in the eyes of the thief than any other property. Amused...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE TOP AND BALLby Hans Christian AndersenA WHIPPING TOP and a little ball lay together in a box, amongother toys, and the top said to the ball, "Shall we be married, aswe live in the same box?"But the ball, which wore a dress of morocco leather, and thoughtas much of herself as any other young lady, would not evencondescend to reply.The next day came the little boy to whom the playthingsbelonged, and he painted the top red and yellow, and drove a...　

Wild Walesby George BorrowIts People, Language and SceneryINTRODUCTORYWALES is a country interesting in many respects, and deserving ofmore attention than it has hitherto met with. Though not veryextensive, it is one of the most picturesque countries in theworld, a country in which Nature displays herself in her wildest,boldest, and occasionally loveliest forms. The inhabitants, whospeak an ancient and peculiar language, do not call this regionWales, nor themselves Welsh. They call themselves Cymry or Cumry,and their country Cymru, or the land of the Cumry. Wales or...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENIN THE UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE SEAby Hans Christian AndersenSOME years ago, large ships were sent towards the north pole, toexplore the distant coasts, and to try how far men could penetrateinto those unknown regions. For more than a year one of these shipshad been pushing its way northward, amid snow and ice, and the sailorshad endured many hardships; till at length winter set in, and thesun entirely disappeared; for many weeks there would be constantnight. All around, as far as the eye could reach, nothing could be...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE LOVELIEST ROSE IN THE WORLDby Hans Christian AndersenTHERE lived once a great queen, in whose garden were found atall seasons the most splendid flowers, and from every land in theworld. She specially loved roses, and therefore she possessed the mostbeautiful varieties of this flower, from the wild hedge-rose, with itsapple-scented leaves, to the splendid Provence rose. They grew nearthe shelter of the walls, wound themselves round columns andwindow-frames, crept along passages and over the ceilings of the...　

A SONG ABOUT MYSELFby John KeatsI.There was a naughty boy,A naughty boy was he,He would not stop at home,He could not quiet be-He tookIn his knapsackA bookFull of vowelsAnd a shirtWith some towels,A slight capFor night cap,A hair brush,...　

James Nasmyth: Engineer, An Autobiography.Edited by Samuel SmilesPREFACEI have had much pleasure in editing the following Memoir of my friend Mr. Nasmyth. Some twenty years since (in April 1863), when I applied to him for information respecting his mechanical inventions, he replied: "My life presents no striking or remarkable incidents, and would, I fear, prove but a tame narrative. The sphere to which my endeavours have been confined has been of a comparatively quiet order; but, vanity apart, I hope I have been able to leave a few marks of my existence behind me in the shape of useful con　

The Chignecto Isthmus And Its First Settlersby Howard Trueman1902PREFACE.For some years past I, in common with many others, have felt that all letters of interest and accessible facts in connection with the early history of the Truemans should be collected and put in permanent form, not because there is anything of interest to the general public in the records of a family whose members have excelled, if at all, in private rather than in public life, but in order that the little knowledge there is of the early history of the family might not pass forever out of the reach of later generations w　

ON LONGEVITY AND SHORTNESS OF LIFEby Aristotletranslated by G. R. T. Ross1THE reasons for some animals being long-lived and othersshort-lived, and, in a word, causes of the length and brevity oflife call for investigation.The necessary beginning to our inquiry is a statement of thedifficulties about these points. For it is not clear whether inanimals and plants universally it is a single or diverse cause that...　

The Dominion of the Airby J. M. BaconCHAPTER I. THE DAWN OF AERONAUTICS."He that would learn to fly must be brought up to the constant practice of it from his youth, trying first only to use his wings as a tame goose will do, so by degrees learning to rise higher till he attain unto skill and confidence."So wrote Wilkins, Bishop of Chester, who was reckoned a man of genius and learning in the days of the Commonwealth. But so soon as we come to inquire into the matter we find that this good Bishop was borrowing from the ideas of others who had gone before him; and, look back as far as we wil　

Flatland: A Romance of Many DimensionsEdwin A. Abbott (1838-1926. English scholar, theologian, and writer.)ToThe Inhabitants of SPACE IN GENERALAnd H. C. IN PARTICULARThis Work is DedicatedBy a Humble Native of FlatlandIn the Hope thatEven as he was Initiated into the MysteriesOf THREE DimensionsHaving been previously conversantWith ONLY TWO...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE THORNY ROAD OF HONORby Hans Christian AndersenAN old story yet lives of the "Thorny Road of Honor," of amarksman, who indeed attained to rank and office, but only after alifelong and weary strife against difficulties. Who has not, inreading this story, thought of his own strife, and of his own numerous"difficulties?" The story is very closely akin to reality; but stillit has its harmonious explanation here on earth, while reality oftenpoints beyond the confines of life to the regions of eternity. The...　

　Another Disc day dawned, but very gradually, and this is why.　When light encounters a strong magical field it loses ail sense of urgency. It slows right down. And on the Discworld the magic was embarrassingly strong, which meant that the soft yellow light of dawn flowed over the sleeping landscape like the caress of a gentle lover or, as some would have it, like golden syrup. It paused to fill up valleys. It piled up against mountain ranges. When it reached Cori Celesti, the ten mile spire of grey stone and green ice that marked the hub of the Disc and was the home of its gods, it built up i