The History of Caliph Vathekby William BeckfordINTRODUCTIONWilliam Beckford, born in 1759, the year before the accession of King George the Third, was the son of an Alderman who became twice Lord Mayor of London. His family, originally of Gloucestershire, had thriven by the plantations in Jamaica; and his father, sent to school in England, and forming a school friendship at Westminster with Lord Mansfield, began the world in this country as a merchant, with inheritance of an enormous West India fortune. William Beckford the elder became Magistrate, Member of Parliament, Alderman. Four year
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...
THE HEADLESS DWARFSThere was once a minister who spent his whole time in trying tofind a servant who would undertake to ring the church bells atmidnight, in addition to all his other duties.Of course it was not everyone who cared to get up in the middleof the night, when he had been working hard all day; still, agood many had agreed to do it. But the strange thing was that nosooner had the servant set forth to perform his task than hedisappeared, as if the earth had swallowed him up. No bells wererung, and no ringer ever came back. The minister did his best to...
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...
The Man against the Skyby Edwin Arlington RobinsonA Book of PoemsTothe memory ofWILLIAM EDWARD BUTLERSeveral of the poems included in this book are reprintedfrom American periodicals, as follows: "The Gift of God","Old King Cole", "Another Dark Lady", and "The Unforgiven";"Flammonde" and "The Poor Relation"; "The Clinging Vine";"Eros Turannos" and "Bokardo"; "The Voice of Age"; "Cassandra";"The Burning Book"; "Theophilus"; "Ben Jonson Entertainsa Man from Stratford"....
THE GREATESTENGLISH CLASSICA STUDY OF THEKING JAMES VERSION OF THE BIBLEAND ITS INFLUENCE ON LIFEAND LITERATUREBYCLELAND BOYD McAFEE, D.D.CONTENTSLECTUREPREFACEI. PREPARING THE WAYTHE ENGLISH BIBLE BEFORE KING JAMESII. THE MAKING OF THE KING JAMES VERSION; ITS CHARACTERISTICSIII. THE KING JAMES VERSION As ENGLISH LITERATUREIV. THE INFLUENCE OF THE KING JAMES VERSION ONENGLISH LITERATUREV. THE KING JAMES VERSIONITS INFLUENCE ON ENGLISHAND AMERICAN HISTORYVI. THE BIBLE IN THE LIFE OF TO-DAYPREFACETHE lectures included in this volume were prepared at the request of the Brooklyn Institute of Ar
PART IDETECTIVE STORIES FROM REAL LIFEPART IITRUE STORIES OF MODERN MAGICEdited by Julian HawthorneREAL LIFETable of contentsPART IDETECTIVE STORIES FROM REAL LIFEARTHUR TRAINA Flight into TexasP. H. WOODWARDAdventures in the Secret Service of the Post-Office DepartmentAn Erring ShepherdAn Aspirant for CongressThe Fortune of Seth SavageA Wish Unexpectedly GratifiedAn Old Game RevivedA Formidable WeaponANDREW LANGSaint-Germain the Deathless...
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:!"...
The Life of Thomas Telford by Smilesby Samuel Smiles"Let us travel, and wherever we find no facility fortravelling from a city to a town, from a village to ahamlet, we may pronounce the people to be barbarous"Abbe Raynal"The opening up of the internal communications of acountry is undoubtedly the first and most importantelement of its growth in commerce and civilization"Richard CobdenCONTENTSPrefaceEARLY ROADS AND MODES OF TRAVELLINGCHAPTER I. Old RoadsRoads as agents of civilization...
The Writings of Abraham Lincolnby Abraham LincolnVOLUME IVTHE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES IILINCOLN AND DOUGLAS FOURTH JOINT DEBATE,AT CHARLESTON, SEPTEMBER 18, 1858.LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:It will be very difficult for an audience solarge as this to hear distinctly what a speaker says, andconsequently it is important that as profound silence be preserved aspossible.While I was at the hotel to-day, an elderly gentleman called upon meto know whether I was really in favor of producing a perfect equality...
A Discourse on MethodDISCOURSE ON THE METHOD OF RIGHTLY CONDUCTING THE REASON, AND SEEKING TRUTH IN THE SCIENCESby Rene DescartesPREFATORY NOTE BY THE AUTHORIf this Discourse appear too long to be read at once, it may be divided into six Parts: and, in the first, will be found various considerations touching the Sciences; in the second, the principal rules of the Method which the Author has discovered, in the third, certain of the rules of Morals which he has deduced from this Method; in the fourth, the reasonings by which he establishes the existence of God and of the Hum
The Life and Adventures of Santa Clauseby L. Frank BaumContentsYOUTH1. Burzee2. The Child of the Forest3. The Adoption4. Claus5. The Master Woodsman6. Claus Discovers Humanity7. Claus Leaves the ForestMANHOOD1. The Laughing Valley2. How Claus Made the First Toy3. How the Ryls Colored the Toys4. How Little Mayrie Became Frightened5. How Bessie Blithesome Came to the Laughing Valley6. The Wickedness of the Awgwas7. The Great Battle Between Good and Evil8. The First Journey with the Reindeer9. "Santa Claus!"10. Christmas Eve...
Child of Stormby H. Rider HaggardDEDICATIONDear Mr. Stuart,For twenty years, I believe I am right in saying, you, as AssistantSecretary for Native Affairs in Natal, and in other offices, have beenintimately acquainted with the Zulu people. Moreover, you are one ofthe few living men who have made a deep and scientific study of theirlanguage, their customs and their history. So I confess that I was themore pleased after you were so good as to read this talethe secondbook of the epic of the vengeance of Zikali, "theThing-that-should-never-have-been-born," and of the fall of the House of...
THE CANTERBURY PILGRIMSThe summer moon, which shines in so many a tale, was beaming overa broad extent of uneven country. Some of its brightest rays wereflung into a spring of water, where no traveller, toiling, as thewriter has, up the hilly road beside which it gushes, ever failedto quench his thirst. The work of neat hands and considerate artwas visible about this blessed fountain. An open cistern, hewnand hollowed out of solid stone, was placed above the waters,which filled it to the brim, but by some invisible outlet wereconveyed away without dripping down its sides. Though the basin...
The Ruby of KishmoorBy Howard PyleCONTENTSPrologueI. Jonathan RuggII. The Mysterious Lady with the Silver VeilIII. The Terrific Encounter with the One-eyed Little Gentleman inBlackIV. The Momentous Adventure with the Stranger with the SilverEar-ringsV. The Unexpected Encounter with the Sea-captain with theBroken NoseVI. The Conclusion of the Adventure with the Lady with theSilver VeilEpiloguePrologueA very famous pirate of his day was Captain Robertson Keitt.Before embarking upon his later career of infamy, he was, in the...
JACK AND THE BEANSTALKJACK SELLS THE COWONCE upon a time there was a poor widow who lived in a littlecottage with her only son Jack.Jack was a giddy, thoughtless boy, but very kind-hearted andaffectionate. There had been a hard winter, and after it the poorwoman had suffered from fever and ague. Jack did no work as yet,and by degrees they grew dreadfully poor. The widow saw thatthere was no means of keeping Jack and herself from starvationbut by selling her cow; so one morning she said to her son, `I amtoo weak to go myself, Jack, so you must take the cow to market...