Heartbreak Houseby George Bernard ShawA FANTASIA IN THE RUSSIAN MANNER ON ENGLISH THEMESHEARTBREAK HOUSE AND HORSEBACK HALLWhere Heartbreak House StandsHeartbreak House is not merely the name of the play which followsthis preface. It is cultured, leisured Europe before the war.When the play was begun not a shot had been fired; and only theprofessional diplomatists and the very few amateurs whose hobbyis foreign policy even knew that the guns were loaded. A Russianplaywright, Tchekov, had produced four fascinating dramaticstudies of Heartbreak House, of which three, The Cherry Orchard,...　

The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivanby Arthur Gilbert and William Schwenk SullivanTHE 14 GILBERT AND SULLIVAN PLAYSWilliam S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan collaborated on 14operas in the period from 1871 to 1896. The are the following:GONDOLIERSGRAND DUKEH.M.S. PINAFOREIOLANTHETHE MIKADOPIRATES OF PENZANCEPRINCESS IDARUDDIGORETHE SORCERERTHESPISTRIAL BY JURYUTOPIA, LIMITEDYEOMEN OF THE GUARDPATIENCEThe Gondoliersor...　

CAMILLE (LA DAME AUX CAMILIAS)CAMILLE (LA DAMEAUX CAMILIAS)by ALEXANDRE DUMAS fils1- Page 2-CAMILLE (LA DAME AUX CAMILIAS)CHAPTER IIn my opinion, it is impossible to create characters until one has spenta long time in studying men, as it is impossible to speak a language until ithas been seriously acquired. Not being old enough to invent, I contentmyself with narrating, and I beg the reader to assure himself of the truth of...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE FIR TREEby Hans Christian AndersenFAR down in the forest, where the warm sun and the fresh airmade a sweet resting-place, grew a pretty little fir-tree; and yetit was not happy, it wished so much to be tall like its companions-the pines and firs which grew around it. The sun shone, and the softair fluttered its leaves, and the little peasant children passed by,prattling merrily, but the fir-tree heeded them not. Sometimes thechildren would bring a large basket of raspberries or strawberries,...　

The Professor at the Breakfast Tableby Oliver Wendell HolmesPREFACE TO REVISED EDITION.The reader of to-day will not forget, I trust, that it is nearly aquarter of a century since these papers were written. Statementswhich were true then are not necessarily true now. Thus, the speedof the trotting horse has been so much developed that the record ofthe year when the fastest time to that date was given must be veryconsiderably altered, as may be seen by referring to a note on page49 of the "Autocrat." No doubt many other statements and opinions...　

Poor Miss Finchby Wilkie CollinsTO MRS. ELLIOT,(OF THE DEANERY, BRISTOL).WILL YOU honor me by accepting the Dedication of this book, inremembrance of an uninterrupted friendship of many years?More than one charming blind girl, in fiction and in the drama, haspreceded "Poor Miss Finch." But, so far as I know, blindness in thesecases has been always exhibited, more or less exclusively, from the idealand the sentimental point of view. The attempt here made is to appeal toan interest of another kind, by exhibiting blindness as it really is. Ihave carefully gathered the information necessary to th　

Cyprus, as I Saw it in 1879by Sir Samuel W. BakerCONTENTSINTRODUCTIONCHAPTER I. ARRIVAL AT LARNACACHAPTER II. THE GIPSY-VANS ENCOUNTER DIFFICULTIESCHAPTER III. ROUTE TO NICOSIACHAPTER IV. THE MESSARIACHAPTER V. START FOR THE CARPASCHAPTER VI. CAPE ST. ANDREACHAPTER VII. KYRENIA AND THE NORTH COASTCHAPTER VIII. ROUTE TO BAFFOCHAPTER IX. FROM BAFFO TO LIMASOLCHAPTER X. THE WINE DISTRICT OF LIMASOLCHAPTER XI. FROM LIMASOL TO THE MOUNTAINS...　

Political Economyby J.C.L. Simonde de Sismondi1815Chapter 1Objects and Origins of the SciencePolitical economy is the name given to an important division of the science of government. The object of government is, or ought to be, the happiness of men, united in society; it seeks the means of securing to them the highest degree of felicity compatible with their nature, and at the same time of allowing the greatest possible number of individuals to partake in that felicity. But man is a complex bring; he experiences moral and physical wants; therefore his happiness consists in his moral and phys　

Sunday Under Three Headsby Charles DickensDEDICATIONTo The Right ReverendTHE BISHOP OF LONDONMY LORD,You were among the first, some years ago, to expatiate on thevicious addiction of the lower classes of society to Sundayexcursions; and were thus instrumental in calling forth occasionaldemonstrations of those extreme opinions on the subject, which arevery generally received with derision, if not with contempt.Your elevated station, my Lord, affords you countless opportunitiesof increasing the comforts and pleasures of the humbler classes of...　

Philosophy of Natureby HegelTable of ContentsPreliminary§ 192 Nature has presented itself as the idea in the form of otherness.§ 193 Hence nature exhibits no freedom in its existence, but only necessity and contingency.§ 194 Nature is to be viewed as a system of stages, in which one stage necessarily arises fromthe other.§ 195 Nature is, in itself a living whole.§ 196 The idea as nature can be named mathematics, physics, and physiology.PART I: Mathematics§ 197 The immediate determination of nature is the abstract generality of its...　

The Discovery of Guianaby Walter RaleighINTRODUCTORY NOTESir Walter Raleigh may be taken as the great typical figure of theage of Elizabeth. Courtier and statesman, soldier and sailor,scientist and man of letters, he engaged in almost all the mainlines of public activity in his time, and was distinguished inthem all.His father was a Devonshire gentleman of property, connected withmany of the distinguished families of the south of England. Walterwas born about 1552 and was educated at Oxford. He first sawmilitary service in the Huguenot army in France in 1569, and in...　

THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZby L. FRANK BAUMAffectionately dedicated to my young friendSumner Hamilton Britton of ChicagoPrologueThrough the kindness of Dorothy Gale of Kansas,afterward Princess Dorothy of Oz, an humble writerin the United States of America was once appointedRoyal Historian of Oz, with the privilege ofwriting the chronicle of that wonderful fairyland.But after making six books about the adventures ofthose interesting but queer people who live in the...　

Ragged Lady, v2by William Dean HowellsPart 2XV.Mrs. Lander went to a hotel in New York where she had been in the habitof staying with her husband, on their way South or North. The clerk knewher, and shook hands with her across the register, and said she couldhave her old rooms if she wanted them; the bell-boy who took up theirhand-baggage recalled himself to her; the elevator-boy welcomed her witha smile of remembrance.Since she was already up, from coming off the sleeping-car, she had noexcuse for not going to breakfast like other people; and she went with...　

From This World to the Nextby Henry FieldingINTRODUCTIONBOOK ICHAPTER I.The author dies, meets with Mercury, and is by him conducted tothe stage which sets out for the other worldCHAPTER II.In which the author first refutes some idle opinions concerningspirits, and then the passengers relate their several deaths .CHAPTER III.The adventures we met with in the City of DiseasesCHAPTER IV.Discourses on the road, and a description of the palace of DeathCHAPTER V....　

The Duchesse de Langeaisby Honore de BalzacTHE DUCHESS OF LANGEAISIIn a Spanish city on an island in the Mediterranean, there stands a convent of the Order of Barefoot Carmelites, where the rule instituted by St. Theresa is still preserved with all the first rigour of the reformation brought about by that illustrious woman. Extraordinary as this may seem, it is none the less true.Almost every religious house in the Peninsula, or in Europe for that matter, was either destroyed or disorganised by the outbreak of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars; but as this island was protected th　

Rezanovby Gertrude AthertonWith an Introduction byWILLIAM MARION REEDYINTRODUCTIONA long list of works Gertrude Atherton has to her credit as a writer. She is indisputably a woman of genius. Not that her genius is distinctively feminine, though she is in matters historical a pas- sionate partisan. Most of the critics who approve her work agree that in the main she views life with somewhat of the masculine spirit of liberality. She is as much the realist as one can be who is saturated with the romance that is California, her birthplace and her home, if such a true cosmopolite as she can be