THE ODYSSEYby Homertranslated by Samuel ButlerBOOK I.TELL ME, O MUSE, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wideafter he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit,and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he wasacquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to savehis own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might hecould not save his men, for they perished through their own sheerfolly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god...
Egypt (La Mort De Philae)by Pierre LotiTranslated from the French by W. P. BAINESCHAPTER IA WINTER MIDNIGHT BEFORE THE GREAT SPHINXA night wondrously clear and of a colour unknown to our climate; aplace of dreamlike aspect, fraught with mystery. The moon of a brightsilver, which dazzles by its shining, illumines a world which surelyis no longer ours; for it resembles in nothing what may be seen inother lands. A world in which everything is suffused with rosy colorbeneath the stars of midnight, and where granite symbols rise up,...
PRINCE DARLINGONCE upon a time there lived a king who was so justand kind that his subjects called him "the Good King."It happened one day, when he was out hunting, that alittle white rabbit, which his dogs were chasing, spranginto his arms for shelter. The King stroked it gently,and said to it:"Well, bunny, as you have come to me for protectionI will see that nobody hurts you."And he took it home to his palace and had it put in apretty little house, with all sorts of nice things to eat.That night, when he was alone in his room, a beautiful...
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...
The Origin of the Distinction of Ranksby John Millar (1735-1801)1771The Origin of the Distinction of Ranks:or, An Inquiry into the Circumstanceswhich give rise to Influence and Authority,In the Different Members of Society.by John Millar, Esq.Professor of Law in the University of GlasgowThe fourth edition, corrected.Edinburgh:Printed for William Blackwood, South-Bridge Street;And Longman, Huest, Rees, & Orme, Paternoster-Row,London, 1806.IntroductionThose who have examined the manners and custom of nations have had chiefly two objects in view. By observing the system of law established in dif
Sword Blades and Poppy Seedby Amy LowellPrefaceNo one expects a man to make a chair without first learning how,but there is a popular impression that the poet is born, not made,and that his verses burst from his overflowing heart of themselves.As a matter of fact, the poet must learn his trade in the same manner,and with the same painstaking care, as the cabinet-maker.His heart may overflow with high thoughts and sparkling fancies,but if he cannot convey them to his reader by means of the written wordhe has no claim to be considered a poet. A workman may be pardoned,...
The Island Phariseesby John Galsworthy"But this is a worshipful society"KING JOHNPREFACEEach man born into the world is born like Shelton in this bookto goa journey, and for the most part he is born on the high road. Atfirst he sits there in the dust, with his little chubby handsreaching at nothing, and his little solemn eyes staring into space.As soon as he can toddle, he moves, by the queer instinct we call thelove of life, straight along this road, looking neither to the rightnor left, so pleased is he to walk. And he is charmed with...
The Underground Cityby Jules VerneORThe Black Indies(Sometimes Called The Child of the Cavern)CHAPTER I CONTRADICTORY LETTERSTo Mr. F. R. Starr, Engineer, 30 Canongate, Edinburgh.IF Mr. James Starr will come to-morrow to the Aberfoyle coal-mines, Dochart pit, Yarrow shaft, a communication of an interesting nature will be made to him."Mr. James Starr will be awaited for, the whole day, at the Callander station, by Harry Ford, son of the old overman Simon Ford.""He is requested to keep this invitation secret."Such was the letter which James Starr received by the first post, on the 3rd December,
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...
She Stoops to Conquerby Oliver GoldsmithSHE STOOPS TO CONQUER;OR,THE MISTAKES OF A NIGHT.A COMEDY.To SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D.Dear Sir,By inscribing this slight performance to you, I do not mean so much to compliment you as myself. It may do me some honour to inform the public, that I have lived many years in intimacy with you. It may serve the interests of mankind also to inform them, that the greatest wit may be found in a character, without impairing the most unaffected piety.I have, particularly, reason to thank you for your partiality to this performance. The undertaking a comedy not mere
430 BCTHE TRACHINIAEby Sophoclestransalated by R. C. JebbCHARACTERS IN THE PLAYDEIANEIRANURSEHYLLUS, son of HERACLES and DEIANEIRAMESSENGERLICHAS, the herald of HERACLESHERACLESAN OLD MANCHORUS OF TRACHINIAN MAIDENSTHE TRACHINIAE(SCENE:- At Trachis, before the house of HERACLES.Enter DEIANEIRA from the house, accompanied by the NURSE.)...
A Mountain WomanA Mountain WomanBy Elia Wilkinson PeattieTo My best Friend, and kindest Critic, My Husband.1- Page 2-A Mountain WomanIF Leroy Brainard had not had such a respect for literature, he wouldhave written a book.As it was, he played at being an architect and succeeded in being acharming fellow. My sister Jessica never lost an opportunity of laughing athis endeavors as an architect....
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 Bravo of Venice - A Romanceby M. G. LewisINTRODUCTION.Matthew Gregory Lewis, who professed to have translated this romanceout of the German, very much, I believe, as Horace Walpole professedto have taken The Castle of Otranto from an old Italian manuscript,was born in 1775 of a wealthy family. His father had an estate inIndia and a post in a Government office. His mother was daughter toSir Thomas Sewell, Master of the Rolls in the reign of George III.She was a young mother; her son Matthew was devoted to her from the...
SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE ADVENTURE OF THE SECOND STAINby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleTHE ADVENTURE OF THE SECOND STAINI had intended "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange" to be the last ofthose exploits of my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, which I shouldever communicate to the public. This resolution of mine was not due toany lack of material, since I have notes of many hundreds of casesto which I have never alluded, nor was it caused by any waninginterest on the part of my readers in the singular personality and...
Rosamund, Queen of the Lombardsby Algernon Charles SwinburnePERSONS REPRESENTEDALBOVINE, King of the Lombards.ALMACHILDES, a young Lombard warrior.NARSETES, an old leader and counsellor.ROSAMUND, Queen of the LombardsHILDEGARD, a noble Lombard maiden.SCENE, VERONATime, June 573ACT IA hall in the Palace: a curtain drawn midway across it.Enter ALBOVINE and NARSETES.ALBOVINE.This is no matter of the wars: in warThy king, old friend, is less than king of thine,And comrade less than follower. Hast thou lovedEverloved woman, not as chance may love,...