ESSAYS, Political, Economical and Philosophical. Volume 1.by Benjamin RumfordContentsDedicationFirst EssayAn account of an Establishment for the Poor at MunichSecond EssayOn the Fundamental Principles on which General Establishments forthe Relief of the Poor may be formed in all Countries.Third EssayOf Food and Particularly of Feeding the Poor.Fourth EssayOf Chimney Fire-places with proposals for improving them to saveFuel; to render dwelling-houses more Comfortable and Salubrious,and effectually to prevent Chimnies from Smoking.Fifth Essay...　

Ursulaby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Katharine Prescott WormeleyDEDICATIONTo Mademoiselle Sophie Surville,It is a true pleasure, my dear niece, to dedicate to you thisbook, the subject and details of which have won theapprobation, so difficult to win, of a young girl to whom theworld is still unknown, and who has compromised with none ofthe lofty principles of a saintly education. Young girls areindeed a formidable public, for they ought not to be allowedto read books less pure than the purity of their souls; they...　

Joan of Naples1343-1382By ALEXANDER DUMAS, PERECHAPTER IIn the night of the 15th of January 1343, while the inhabitants of Naples lay wrapped in peaceful slumber, they were suddenly awakened by the bells of the three hundred churches that this thrice blessed capital contains. In the midst of the disturbance caused by so rude a call the first bought in the mind of all was that the town was on fire, or that the army of some enemy had mysteriously landed under cover of night and could put the citizens to the edge of the sword. But the doleful, intermittent sounds of all these fills, which distu　

Forty Centuries of Inkby David N. CarvalhoORA CHRONOLOGICAL NARRATIVE CONCERNINGINK AND ITS BACKGROUNDSINTRODUCING INCIDENTAL OBSERVATIONS ANDDEDUCTIONS, PARALLELS OF TIME AND COLORPHENOMENA, BIBLIOGRAPHY, CHEMISTRY,POETICAL EFFUSIONS, CITATIONS,ANECDOTES AND CURIOSA TOGETHER WITHSOME EVIDENCE RESPECTING THEEVANESCENT CHARACTER OFMOST INKS OF TO-DAY ANDAN EPITOME OF CHEMICO-LEGAL INK.BYDAVID N. CARVALHOPREFACE.The unfortunate conditions surrounding the almostuniversal use of the oddly named commercial and with...　

HERMOD AND HADVOR [32][32] From the Icelandic.Once upon a time there were a King and a Queen who had an onlydaughter, called Hadvor, who was fair and beautiful, and being anonly child, was heir to the kingdom. The King and Queen had alsoa foster son, named Hermod, who was just about the same age asHadvor, and was good-looking, as well as clever at most things.Hermod and Hadvor often played together while they were children,and liked each other so much that while they were still youngthey secretly plighted their troth to each other.As time went on the Queen fell sick, and suspecting that it w　

At the Back of the North Windby George MacDonaldCHAPTER ITHE HAY-LOFTI HAVE been asked to tell you about the back of the north wind.An old Greek writer mentions a people who lived there,and were so comfortable that they could not bear it any longer,and drowned themselves. My story is not the same as his.I do not think Herodotus had got the right account of the place.I am going to tell you how it fared with a boy who went there.He lived in a low room over a coach-house; and that was not by anymeans at the back of the north wind, as his mother very well knew....　

The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnardby Anatole FrancePart IThe LogDecember 24, 1849.I had put on my slippers and my dressing-gown. I wiped away a tear with which the north wind blowing over the quay had obscured my vision. A bright fire was leaping in the chimney of my study. Ice-crystals, shaped like fern-leaves, were sprouting over the windowpanes and concealed from me the Seine with its bridges and the Louvre of the Valois.I drew up my easy-chair to the hearth, and my table-volante, and took up so much of my place by the fire as Hamilcar deigned to allow me. Hamilcar was lying in front of th　

Fraternityby John GalsworthyCHAPTER ITHE SHADOWIn the afternoon of the last day of April, 190-, a billowy sea of little broken clouds crowned the thin air above High Street, Kensington. This soft tumult of vapours, covering nearly all the firmament, was in onslaught round a patch of blue sky, shaped somewhat like a star, which still gleameda single gentian flower amongst innumerable grass. Each of these small clouds seemed fitted with a pair of unseen wings, and, as insects flight on their too constant journeys, they were setting forth all ways round this starry blossom which burned so clea　

TWICE-TOLD TALESOLD ESTHER DUDLEYby Nathaniel HawthorneTHE HOUR HAD COME- the hour of defeat and humiliation- when SirWilliam Howe was to pass over the threshold of the Province House, andembark, with no such triumphal ceremonies as he once promised himself,on board the British fleet. He bade his servants and militaryattendants go before him, and lingered a moment in the loneliness ofthe mansion, to quell the fierce emotions that struggled in hisbosom as with a death throb. Preferable, then, would he have deemed...　

The Princeby Nicolo MachiavelliTranslated by W. K. MarriottNicolo Machiavelli, born at Florence on 3rd May 1469. From 1494 to 1512 held an official post at Florence which included diplomatic missions to various European courts. Imprisoned in Florence, 1512; later exiled and returned to San Casciano. Died at Florence on 22nd June 1527.INTRODUCTIONNicolo Machiavelli was born at Florence on 3rd May 1469. He was the second son of Bernardo di Nicolo Machiavelli, a lawyer of some repute, and of Bartolommea di Stefano Nelli, his wife. Both parents were members of the old Florentine nobility....　

The Rivermanby Stewart Edward WhiteIThe time was the year 1872, and the place a bend in the river abovea long pond terminating in a dam. Beyond this dam, and on a flatlower than it, stood a two-story mill structure. Save for a small,stump-dotted clearing, and the road that led from it, all else wasforest. Here in the bottom-lands, following the course of thestream, the hardwoods grew dense, their uppermost branches justbeginning to spray out in the first green of spring. Farther back,where the higher lands arose from the swamp, could be discerned the...　

SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE ADVENTURE OF THE SECOND STAINby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleTHE ADVENTURE OF THE SECOND STAINI had intended "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange" to be the last ofthose exploits of my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, which I shouldever communicate to the public. This resolution of mine was not due toany lack of material, since I have notes of many hundreds of casesto which I have never alluded, nor was it caused by any waninginterest on the part of my readers in the singular personality and...　

The Bohemian GirlThe transcontinental express swung along the windings of theSand River Valley, and in the rear seat of the observation car ayoung man sat greatly at his ease, not in the least discomfited bythe fierce sunlight which beat in upon his brown face and neck andstrong back. There was a look of relaxation and of great passivityabout his broad shoulders, which seemed almost too heavy until hestood up and squared them. He wore a pale flannel shirt and a bluesilk necktie with loose ends. His trousers were wide and belted at...　

The Golden Sayings of EpictetusIAre these the only works of Providence within us? What wordssuffice to praise or set them forth? Had we but understanding,should we ever cease hymning and blessing the Divine Power, bothopenly and in secret, and telling of His gracious gifts? Whetherdigging or ploughing or eating, should we not sing the hymn toGod:Great is God, for that He hath given us such instruments to tillthe ground withal:Great is God, for that He hath given us hands and the power ofswallowing and digesting; of unconsciously growing and...　

THE IDLE THOUGHTSOFAN IDLE FELLOW.by JEROME K. JEROME.NEW YORK:A. L. BURT, PUBLISHER.TOTHE VERY DEAR AND WELL-BELOVEDFRIENDOF MY PROSPEROUS AND EVIL DAYSTO THE FRIENDWHO, THOUGH IN THE EARLY STAGES OF OUR ACQUAINTANCESHIPDID OFTTIMES DISAGREE WITH ME, HAS SINCEBECOME TO BE MY VERY WARMEST COMRADETO THE FRIENDWHO, HOWEVER OFTEN I MAY PUT HIM OUT, NEVER (NOW)UPSETS ME IN REVENGETO THE FRIENDWHO, TREATED WITH MARKED COOLNESS BY ALL THE FEMALEMEMBERS OF MY HOUSEHOLD, AND REGARDED WITH SUSPICIONBY MY VERY DOG, NEVERTHELESS SEEMS DAY BY...　

SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE GREEK INTERPRETERby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleDuring my long and intimate acquaintance with Mr. Sherlock HolmesI had never heard him refer to his relations, and hardly ever to hisown early life. This reticence upon his part had increased thesomewhat inhuman effect which he produced upon me, until sometimes Ifound myself regarding him as an isolated phenomenon, a brainwithout a heart, as deficient in human sympathy as he was preeminentin intelligence. His aversion to women and his disinclination to...