The Collection of Antiquitiesby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Ellen MarriageDEDICATIONTo Baron Von Hammer-Purgstall, Member of the Aulic Council, Author of the History of the Ottoman Empire.Dear Baron,You have taken so warm an interest in my long, vast "History of French Manners in the Nineteenth Century," you have given me so much encouragement to persevere with my work, that you have given me a right to associate your name with some portion of it. Are you not one of the most important representatives of conscientious, studious Germany? Will not your approval win for me the approval of others, and protect this attempt of mine? So proud am I to have gained your good opinion,　

A DREAM OF ARMAGEDDONThe man with the white face entered the carriage at Rugby. Hemoved slowly in spite of the urgency of his porter, and even whilehe was still on the platform I noted how ill he seemed. He droppedinto the corner over against me with a sigh, made an incompleteattempt to arrange his travelling shawl, and became motionless,with his eyes staring vacantly. Presently he was moved by a senseof my observation, looked up at me, and put out a spiritless handfor his newspaper. Then he glanced again in my direction.I feigned to read. I feared I had unwittingly embarrassedhim, and in a moment I was surprised to find him speaking....　

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. Itrecords an absolutely unique experience in the career both of Mr.Sherlock Holmes and of myself. The reader will excuse me if I...　

SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE SCANDAL IN BOHEMIAby Sir Arthur Conan Doyle1To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heardhim mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses andpredominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotionakin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly,were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. Hewas, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machinethat the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himselfin a false position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save...　

Desperate Remediesby Thomas HardyCONTENTSPREFATORY NOTEI. THE EVENTS OF THIRTY YEARSII. THE EVENTS OF A FORTNIGHTIII. THE EVENTS OF EIGHT DAYSIV. THE EVENTS OF ONE DAYV. THE EVENTS OF ONE DAYVI. THE EVENTS OF TWELVE HOURSVII. THE EVENTS OF EIGHTEEN DAYSVIII. THE EVENTS OF EIGHTEEN DAYSIX. THE EVENTS OF TEN WEEKSX. THE EVENTS OF A DAY AND NIGHTXI. THE EVENTS OF FIVE DAYSXII. THE EVENTS OF TEN MONTHSXIII. THE EVENTS OF ONE DAYXIV. THE EVENTS OF FIVE WEEKSXV. THE EVENTS OF THREE WEEKSXVI. THE EVENTS OF ONE WEEKXVII. THE EVENTS OF ONE DAYXVIII. THE EVENTS OF THREE DAYSXIX. THE EVENTS OF A DAY AND NIGHT...　

Massacres of the South1551-1815by Alexandre Dumas, PereCHAPTER IIt is possible that our reader, whose recollections may perhaps goback as far as the Restoration, will be surprised at the size of theframe required for the picture we are about to bring before him,embracing as it does two centuries and a half; but as everything, hasits precedent, every river its source, every volcano its centralfire, so it is that the spot of earth on which we are going to fixour eyes has been the scene of action and reaction, revenge ,andretaliation, till the religious annals of the South resemble anaccount-book kept by double entry, in which fanaticism enters the...　

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 GondoliersorThe King of BaratariaLibretto by William S. Gilbert...　

Motherby Owen WisterTO MY FAVOURITE BROKER WITH THE EARNEST ASSURANCE THAT MR. BEVERLY IS NOTMEANT FOR HIMNOTEIN 1901, this story appeared anonymously as the ninth of a sequence ofshort stories by various authors, in a volume entitled A House Party. Ithas been slightly remodelled for separate publication.June 7, 1907, OWEN WISTERMOTHERWhen handsome young Richard Fieldhe was very handsome and very youngannounced to our assembled company that if his turn should really come totell us a story, the story should be no invention of his fancy, but apage of truth, a chapter from his own life, in which himself was the hero...　

A MOONLIGHT FABLEThere was once a little man whose mother made him a beautiful suitof clothes. It was green and gold and woven so that I cannotdescribe how delicate and fine it was, and there was a tie oforange fluffiness that tied up under his chin. And the buttonsin their newness shone like stars. He was proud and pleased by hissuit beyond measure, and stood before the long looking-glass whenfirst he put it on, so astonished and delighted with it that hecould hardly turn himself away.He wanted to wear it everywhere and show it to all sorts ofpeople. He thought over all the places he had ever visited and allthe scenes he had ever heard described, and tried to imagine what...　

OF THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESSDavid Hume1741NOTHING is more apt to surprize a foreigner, than theextreme liberty, which we enjoy in this country, ofcommunicating whatever we please to the public, and ofopenly censuring every measure, entered into by the king orhis ministers. If the administration resolve upon war, it isaffirmed, that, either wilfully or ignorantly, they mistake...　

The Essays of Montaigne, V8by Michel de MontaigneTranslated by Charles CottonEdited by William Carew Hazilitt1877CONTENTS OF VOLUME 8.XLVIII. Of war-horses, or destriers.XLIX. Of ancient customs.L. Of Democritus and Heraclitus.LI. Of the vanity of words.LII. Of the parsimony of the Ancients.LIII. Of a saying of Caesar.LIV. Of vain subtleties.LV. Of smells.LVI. Of prayers.LVII. Of age.CHAPTER XLVIIIOF WAR HORSES, OR DESTRIERSI here have become a grammarian, I who never learned any language but byrote, and who do not yet know adjective, conjunction, or ablative. I...　

Tour Through the Eastern Counties of Englandby Daniel DefoeI began my travels where I purpose to end them, viz., at the Cityof London, and therefore my account of the city itself will comelast, that is to say, at the latter end of my southern progress;and as in the course of this journey I shall have many occasions tocall it a circuit, if not a circle, so I chose to give it the titleof circuits in the plural, because I do not pretend to havetravelled it all in one journey, but in many, and some of them manytimes over; the better to inform myself of everything I could findworth taking notice of.I hope it will appear that I am not the less, but the more capable...