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　

The Pharisee And The Publicanby John BunyanTwo men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself; God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the Publican, standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. Luke, xviii. 10-13.In the beginning of this chapter you read of the reason of the parable　

Tommy and Co.Tommy and Co.by Jerome K. Jerome1- Page 2-Tommy and Co.STORY THE FIRSTPeter Hopeplans his Prospectus"Come in!" said Peter Hope.Peter Hope was tall and thin, clean-shaven but for a pair of sidewhiskers close-cropped and terminating just below the ear, with hair ofthe kind referred to by sympathetic barbers as "getting a little thin on the...　

LAHOMALAHOMAby John Breckenridge Ellis1- Page 2-LAHOMACHAPTER ITHE TOUCH OF A CHILD"I have given my word of honormy sacred oathnot to betray what Ihave discovered here."At these words from the prisoner, a shout arose in which oaths andmocking laughter mingled like the growling and snapping of hunger-...　

The Amateur Cracksmanby E. W. HornungTO A. C. D. THIS FORM OF FLATTERYTHE AMATEUR CRACKSMANTHE IDES OF MARCHIIt was half-past twelve when I returned to the Albany as a last desperate resort. The scene of my disaster was much as I had left it. The baccarat-counters still strewed the table, with the empty glasses and the loaded ash-trays. A window had been opened to let the smoke out, and was letting in the fog instead. Raffles himself had merely discarded his dining jacket for one of his innumerable blazers. Yet he arched his eyebrows as though I had dragged him from his bed....　

The Circulation of the Bloodby Thomas H. HuxleyI DESIRE this evening to give you some account of the life and laboursof a very noble EnglishmanWilliam Harvey.William Harvey was born in the year 1578, and as he lived until the year1657, he very nearly attained the age of 80. He was the son of a smalllandowner in Kent, who was sufficiently wealthy to send this, hiseldest son, to the University of Cambridge; while he embarked theothers in mercantile pursuits, in which they all, as time passed on,attained riches.William Harvey, after pursuing his education at Cambridge, and taking...　

The History of John Bullby John ArbuthnotINTRODUCTION BY HENRY MORLEY.This is the book which fixed the name and character of John Bull on the English people. Though in one part of the story he is thin and long nosed, as a result of trouble, generally he is suggested to us as "ruddy and plump, with a pair of cheeks like a trumpeter," an honest tradesman, simple and straightforward, easily cheated; but when he takes his affairs into his own hands, acting with good plain sense, knowing very well what he wants done, and doing it.The book was begun in the year 1712, and published in four successi　

For the Term of His Natural Lifeby Marcus ClarkeDEDICATIONTOSIR CHARLES GAVAN DUFFYMy Dear Sir Charles, I take leave to dedicate this work to you, not merely because your nineteen years of political and literary life in Australia render it very fitting that any work written by a resident in the colonies, and having to do with the history of past colonial days, should bear your name upon its dedicatory page; but because the publication of my book is due to your advice and encouragement.The convict of fiction has been hitherto shown only at the beginning or at the end of his career. Either hi　

THE VITAL MESSAGETHE VITAL MESSAGEARTHUR CONAN DOYLE1- Page 2-THE VITAL MESSAGEPREFACEIn "The New Revelation" the first dawn of the coming change hasbeen described. In "The Vital Message" the sun has risen higher, and onesees more clearly and broadly what our new relations with the Unseenmay be. As I look into the future of the human race I am reminded of how...　

Glinda of Ozby L. Frank BaumIn which are related the Exciting Experiences of PrincessOzma of Oz, and Dorothy, in their hazardous journeyto the home of the Flatheads, and to the MagicIsle of the Skeezers, and how they wererescued from dire peril by thesorcery of Glinda theGoodby L. FRANK BAUM"Royal Historian of Oz"This Bookis Dedicated toMy SonRobert Stanton BaumLIST OF CHAPTERS...　

The Libraryby Andrew LangContents:PREFATORY NOTEAN APOLOGY FOR THE BOOK-HUNTERTHE LIBRARYTHE BOOKS OF THE COLLECTORILLUSTRATED BOOKSBooks, books again, and books once more!These are our theme, which some miscallMere madness, setting little storeBy copies either short or tall.But you, O slaves of shelf and stall!We rather write for you that holdPatched folios dear, and prize "the small,Rare volume, black with tarnished gold."A. D.PREFATORY NOTEThe pages in this volume on illuminated and other MSS. (with the exception of some anecdotes about Bussy Rabutin and Julie de Rambouillet) have been con　

Swan Songby Anton CheckovPLAYS BY ANTON TCHEKOFFTRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN, WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY MARIAN FELLCONTENTSIntroductionChronological List of WorksThe Swan SongINTRODUCTIONANTON TCHEKOFFTHE last years of the nineteenth century were for Russia tingedwith doubt and gloom. The high-tide of vitality that had risenduring the Turkish war ebbed in the early eighties, leavingbehind it a dead level of apathy which lasted until life wasagain quickened by the high interests of the Revolution. Duringthese grey years the lonely country and stagnant provincial towns...　

Father Goriotby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Ellen MarriageTo the great and illustrious Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, a tokenof admiration for his works and genius.DE BALZAC.Mme. Vauquer (nee de Conflans) is an elderly person, who for thepast forty years has kept a lodging-house in the Rue Nueve-Sainte-Genevieve, in the district that lies between the LatinQuarter and the Faubourg Saint-Marcel. Her house (known in theneighborhood as the Maison Vauquer) receives men and women, oldand young, and no word has ever been breathed against her...　

AFTER THE DANCE"AND you say that a man cannot, of himself,understand what is good and evil; that it is allenvironment, that the environment swamps theman. But I believe it is all chance. Take myown case . . ."Thus spoke our excellent friend, Ivan Vasilie-vich, after a conversation between us on the impos-sibility of improving individual character withouta change of the conditions under which men live.Nobody had actually said that one could not ofoneself understand good and evil; but it was ahabit of Ivan Vasilievich to answer in this way thethoughts aroused in his own mind by conversation,.　

The Way of All Fleshby Samuel ButlerCHAPTER IWhen I was a small boy at the beginning of the century I remember anold man who wore knee-breeches and worsted stockings, and who usedto hobble about the street of our village with the help of a stick.He must have been getting on for eighty in the year 1807, earlierthan which date I suppose I can hardly remember him, for I was bornin 1802. A few white locks hung about his ears, his shoulders werebent and his knees feeble, but he was still hale, and was muchrespected in our little world of Paleham. His name was Pontifex....　

On Books and the Housing of Themby William Ewart GladstoneIn the old age of his intellect (which atthis point seemed to taste a little ofdecrepitude), Strauss declared [1] that the doctrine ofimmortality has recently lost the assistanceof a passable argument, inasmuch as it hasbeen discovered that the stars are inhabited;for where, he asks, could room now be foundfor such a multitude of souls? Again, in viewof the current estimates of prospectivepopulation for this earth, some people have begun toentertain alarm for the probable condition of...