Marquise de Brinvilliersby Alexandre Dumas, PereTowards the end of the year 1665, on a fine autumn evening, there was a considerable crowd assembled on the Pont-Neuf where it makes a turn down to the rue Dauphine. The object of this crowd and the centre of attraction was a closely shut, carriage. A police official was trying to force open the door, and two out of the four sergeants who were with him were holding the horses back and the other two stopping the driver, who paid no attention to their commands, but only endeavoured to urge his horses to a gallop. The struggle had been going on 　

Confessio AmantisorTales of the Seven Deadly SinsBy John Gower, 1330-1408 A.D.PrologusTorpor, ebes sensus, scola parua labor minimusqueCausant quo minimus ipse minora canam:Qua tamen Engisti lingua canit Insula BrutiAnglica Carmente metra iuuante loquar.Ossibus ergo carens que conterit ossa loquelisAbsit, et interpres stet procul oro malus.Of hem that writen ous toforeThe bokes duelle, and we therforeBen tawht of that was write tho:Forthi good is that we alsoIn oure tyme among ous hiereDo wryte of newe som matiere,Essampled of these olde wyse...　

ANTHEMANTHEMby Ayn Rand1- Page 2-ANTHEMPART ONEIt is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think andto put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil. Itis as if we were speaking alone to no ears but our own. And we know wellthat there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone. We have...　

APPENDIX DThe Awful German LanguageA little learning makes the whole world kin.Proverbs xxxii, 7.I went often to look at the collection of curiositiesin Heidelberg Castle, and one day I surprised the keeperof it with my German. I spoke entirely in that language.He was greatly interested; and after I had talked a whilehe said my German was very rare, possibly a "unique";and wanted to add it to his museum.If he had known what it had cost me to acquire my art,he would also have known that it would break anycollector to buy it. Harris and I had been hard at...　

THE BIRTHDAY OF THE INFANTA[TO MRS. WILLIAM H. GRENFELL OF TAPLOW COURT - LADY DESBOROUGH]It was the birthday of the Infanta. She was just twelve years ofage, and the sun was shining brightly in the gardens of the palace.Although she was a real Princess and the Infanta of Spain, she hadonly one birthday every year, just like the children of quite poorpeople, so it was naturally a matter of great importance to thewhole country that she should have a really fine day for theoccasion. And a really fine day it certainly was. The tallstriped tulips stood straight up upon their stalks, like long 　

The High Price of Bullionby David Ricardo1810The High Price of Bullion, a Proof of the Depreciation of BankNotes.by David RicardoLondon: Printed for John Murray, 32, Fleet-Street; And Sold byEvery Other Bookseller in Town and Country1810IntroductionThe writer of the following pages has already submitted somereflections to the attention of the public, on the subject ofpaper-currency, through the medium of the Morning Chronicle. Hehas thought proper to republish his sentiments on this question...　

410 BCELECTRAby Sophoclestranslated by R. C. JebbCHARACTERS IN THE PLAYORESTES, son of Agamemnon and CLYTEMNESTRAELECTRA } sister of ORESTESCHRYSOTHEMIS} " " "AN OLD MAN, formerly the PAEDAGOGUS or Attendant Of ORESTESCLYTEMNESTRAAEGISTHUSCHORUS OF WOMEN OF MYCENAEMute PersonsPYLADES, son of Strophius, King of Crisa, the friend Of ORESTES....　

SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE ADVENTURE OF CHARLES AUGUSTUS MILVERTONby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleTHE ADVENTURE OF CHARLES AUGUSTUS MILVERTONIt is years since the incidents of which I speak took place, and yetit is with diffidence that I allude to them. For a long time, evenwith the utmost discretion and reticence, it would have beenimpossible to make the facts public, but now the principal personconcerned is beyond the reach of human law, and with due suppressionthe story may be told in such fashion as to injure no one. It...　

Rasselas, Prince of Abyssiniaby Samuel JohnsonCHAPTER I - DESCRIPTION OF A PALACE IN A VALLEY.YE who listen with credulity to the whispers of fancy, and pursue with eagerness the phantoms of hope; who expect that age will perform the promises of youth, and that the deficiencies of the present day will be supplied by the morrow, attend to the history of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia.Rasselas was the fourth son of the mighty Emperor in whose dominions the father of waters begins his course - whose bounty pours down the streams of plenty, and scatters over the world the harvests of Egypt.　

　FOR NATALIE　　ACKNOWLEDGMENTS　　Special thanks to Natalie Freer-the most genuine and giving person I know. To Stephen Reilly, my brother and my good friend and my loyal supporter, even from thousands of miles away. To Mum for her ments on the text and to Dad for his woeful title suggestions and to both of them for their love and support. And, last, thanks to everyone at Pan and Thomas Dunne Books (in particular, my editors, Cate Paterson, Pete Wolverton, and Madonna Duffy, first, for "discovering" me and, second, for enduring all of my crazy ideas). To all of you, never underestimate the power　

　Acknowledgments　　A casebook edition of any work of literature is necessarily the result of work and good will by numerous people. We are deeply indebted to the writers who contributed the original materials contained in this volume.　We also wish to thank the authors, editors, and publishers who so kindly granted permissions for use of the previously published materials collected in this volume. Full acknowledgment for their valuable aid is printed in the headnote for each of the articles as well as original sources of publication.　The editors gratefully acknowledge the special courtesies of 　

　"The Captive"　Chapter One　She sat by the creek, half-hidden in lush grasses. Carefully she twined purple summer flowers into her single dark brown braid, and dabbled bare feet in the rushing water. Stems and crushed blooms littered the coarse yellow gown she wore and damp earth stained the garment, but she paid it no mind. She was purpose-fully intent on her work, for if she allowed her thoughts to range freely she would be overtaken by the knowledge and the hope that he still might e.　A songbird called from the forest behind and she glanced up, smiling at the delicate melody. Then her atten　

A Selection From The Lyrical Poems Of Robert HerrickArranged with introduction by Francis Turner PalgravePREFACEROBERT HERRICK - Born 1591 : Died 1674Those who most admire the Poet from whose many pieces a selection only is here offered, will, it is probable, feel most strongly (with the Editor) that excuse is needed for an attempt of an obviously presumptuous nature. The choice made by any selector invites challenge: the admission, perhaps, of some poems, the absence of more, will be censured:Whilst others may wholly condemn the process, in virtue of an argument not unfrequently advanced o　

Robert Louis Stevenson, A Record, An Estimate, A Memorialby A. H. JappPREFACEA FEW words may here be allowed me to explain one or two points. First, about the facsimile of last page of Preface to FAMILIAR STUDIES OF MEN AND BOOKS. Stevenson was in Davos when the greater portion of that work went through the press. He felt so much the disadvantage of being there in the circumstances (both himself and his wife ill) that he begged me to read the proofs of the Preface for him. This illness has record in the letter from him (pp. 28- 29). The printers, of course, had directions to send t　

Meditationsby Marcus AureliusCONTENTSINTRODUCTIONFIRST BOOKSECOND BOOKTHIRD BOOKFOURTH BOOKFIFTH BOOKSIXTH BOOKSEVENTH BOOKEIGHTH BOOKNINTH BOOKTENTH BOOKELEVENTH BOOKTWELFTH BOOKAPPENDIXGLOSSARYMeditationsMarcus AureliusIntroductionMARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS was born on April 26, A.D. 121. His real name was M. Annius Verus, and he was sprung of a noble family which claimed descent from Numa, second King of Rome. Thus the most religious of emperors came of the blood of the most pious of early kings. His father, Annius Verus, had held high office in Rome, and his grandfather, of the same name,　

A Forgotten Empire: Vijayanagar; A Contribution to the History of Indiaby Robert SewellPrefaceThe two Portuguese chronicles, a translation of which into English is now for the first time offered to the public, are contained in a vellum-bound folio volume in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, amongst the manuscripts of which institution it bears the designation "PORT. NO. 65." The volume in question consists of copies of four original documents; the first two, written by Fernao Nuniz and Domingo Paes, being those translated below, the last two (at the end of the MS.) letters written from Chi