The Nabobby Alphonse DaudetTranslated by W. BlaydesINTRODUCTIONDaudet once remarked that England was the last of foreign countries to welcome his novels, and that he was surprised at the fact, since for him, as for the typical Englishman, the intimacy of home life had great significance. However long he may have taken to win Anglo-Saxon hearts, there is no question that he finally won them more completely than any other contemporary French novelist was able to do, and that when but a few years since the news came that death had released him from his sufferings, thousands of men and women, bot
The Confessions of a Summer Colonistby William Dean HowellsThe season is ending in the little summer settlement on the Down Eastcoast where I have been passing the last three months, and with eachloath day the sense of its peculiar charm grows more poignant.A prescience of the homesickness I shall feel for it when I go alreadybegins to torment me, and I find myself wishing to imagine some form ofwords which shall keep a likeness of it at least through the winter; someshadowy semblance which I may turn to hereafter if any chance or changeshould destroy or transform it, or, what is more likely,
The Club of Queer Tradesby G.K.ChestertonChapter 1The Tremendous Adventures of Major BrownRabelais, or his wild illustrator Gustave Dore, must have had something to do with the designing of the things called flats in England and America. There is something entirely Gargantuan in the idea of economising space by piling houses on top of each other, front doors and all. And in the chaos and complexity of those perpendicular streets anything may dwell or happen, and it is in one of them, I believe, that the inquirer may find the offices of the Club of Queer Trades. It may be thought at the first
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
SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE ADVENTURE OF THE MISSING THREE-QUARTERby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleWe were fairly accustomed to receive weird telegrams at BakerStreet, but I have a particular recollection of one which reached uson a gloomy February morning, some seven or eight years ago, andgave Mr. Sherlock Holmes a puzzled quarter of an hour. It wasaddressed to him, and ran thus:Please await me. Terrible misfortune. Right wing three-quartermissing, indispensable to-morrow.OVERTON....
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...
A MATTER OF MILLIONS THE Clipper smacked the blue of Biscayne Bay and settled into a lazy squat, from which it taxied toward a landing. An audible sigh of relief came from the roped-off crowd that lined the shore of Dinner Key. Little wonder that the sigh was heard, for the throng was immense. Seldom did the population of Miami, citizen and tourist, assemble en masse at the Marine Airways Base to witness the arrival of a Clipper plane. But the winged ship just in from the Caribbean was worthy of a huge turnout. Not only because its passengers were something of celebrities, but because of
A Theologico-Political Treatise [Part I]by Benedict de SpinozaAlso known as Baruch SpinozaTranslated by R. H. M. ElwesPart 1 - Chapters I to VTABLE OF CONTENTS:PREFACE.Origin and consequences of superstition.Causes that have led the author to write.Course of his investigation.For what readers the treatise is designed. Submission of authorto the rulers of his country.CHAPTER I - Of Prophecy.Definition of prophecy....
TIBERIUS GRACCHUSHaving completed the first two narratives, we now may proceedto take a view of misfortunes, not less remarkable, in theRoman couple, and with the lives of Agis and Cleomenes,compare these of Tiberius and Caius. They were the sons ofTiberius Gracchus, who, though he had been once censor, twiceconsul, and twice had triumphed, yet was more renowned andesteemed for his virtue than his honors. Upon this account,after the death of Scipio who overthrew Hannibal, he wasthought worthy to match with his daughter Cornelia, thoughthere had been no friendship or familiarity between Scip
Selected Prose of Oscar Wildeby Oscar WildeContents:Preface by Robert RossHow They Struck a ContemporaryThe Quality of George MeredithLife in the Fallacious ModelLife the DiscipleLife the PlagiaristThe Indispensable EastThe Influence of the Impressionists on ClimateAn Exposure to NaturalismThomas Griffiths WainewrightWainewright at Hobart TownCardinal Newman and the AutobiographiersRobert BrowningThe Two Supreme and Highest ArtsThe Secrets of ImmortalityThe Critic and his MaterialDante the Living Guide...
Common Senseby Thomas PaineINTRODUCTIONPerhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages,are not YET sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favour;a long habit of not thinking a thing WRONG, gives it a superficialappearance of being RIGHT, and raises at first a formidable outcryin defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides.Time makes more converts than reason.As a long and violent abuse of power, is generally the Meansof calling the right of it in question (and in Matters too whichmight never have been thought of, had not the Sufferers been aggravated...
ALEXANDER356-323 B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenIT being my purpose to write the lives of Alexander the king, and of Caesar, by whom Pompey was destroyed, the multitude of their great actions affords so large a field that I were to blame if I should not by way of apology forewarn my reader that I have chosen rather to epitomize the most celebrated parts of their story, than to insist at large on every particular circumstance of it. It must be borne in mind that my design is not to write histories, but lives. And the most glorious exploits do not alw
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...
The House of Pride and Other Tales of Hawaiiby Jack LondonContents:The House of PrideKoolau the LeperGood-bye, JackAloha OeChun Ah ChunThe Sheriff of KonaJack LondonTHE HOUSE OF PRIDEPercival Ford wondered why he had come. He did not dance. He didnot care much for army people. Yet he knew them allgliding andrevolving there on the broad lanai of the Seaside, the officers intheir fresh-starched uniforms of white, the civilians in white andblack, and the women bare of shoulders and arms. After two years in...
The Boy CaptivesAn Incident of the Indian War of 1695by John Greenleaf WhittierTHE township of Haverhill, even as late as the close of theseventeenth century, was a frontier settlement, occupying anadvanced position in the great wilderness, which, unbroken by theclearing of a white man, extended from the Merrimac River to theFrench villages on the St. Francois. A tract of twelve miles on theriver and three or four northwardly was occupied by scatteredsettlers, while in the centre of the town a compact village hadgrown up. In the immediate vicinity there were but few Indians,...
THE WITCH IN THE STONE BOAT[31][31] From the Icelandic.There were once a King and a Queen, and they had a son calledSigurd, who was very strong and active, and good-looking. Whenthe King came to be bowed down with the weight of years he spoketo his son, and said that now it was time for him to look out fora fitting match for himself, for he did not know how long hemight last now, and he would like to see him married before hedied.Sigurd was not averse to this, and asked his father where hethought it best to look for a wife. The King answered that in a...