The Lumley Autographby Susan Fenimore Cooper[Not long since an American author received an application from aGerman correspondent for "a few Autographs"the number of namesapplied for amounting to more than a hundred, and covering severalsheets of foolscap. A few years since an Englishman of literary notesent his Album to a distinguished poet in Paris for his contribution,when the volume was actually stolen from a room where every otherarticle was left untouched; showing that Autographs were morevaluable in the eyes of the thief than any other property. Amusedwith the recollection of these facts, and others of the same kind,some idle hours were given by the writer to the following view of th　

Miss Billyby Eleanor H. PorterCONTENTSCHAPTERI. BILLY WRITES A LETTERII. "THE STRATA"III. THE STRATAWHEN THE LETTER COMESIV. BILLY SENDS A TELEGRAMV. GETTING READY FOR BILLYVI. THE COMING OF BILLYVII. INTRODUCING SPUNKVIII. THE ROOMAND BILLYIX. A FAMILY CONCLAVEX. AUNT HANNAHXI. BERTRAM HAS VISITORSXII. CYRIL TAKES HIS TURNXIII. A SURPRISE ALL AROUNDXIV. AUNT HANNAH SPEAKS HER MINDXV. WHAT BERTRAM CALLS "THE LIMIT"XVI. KATE TAKES A HANDXVII. A PINK-RIBBON TRAILXVIII. BILLY WRITES ANOTHER LETTERXIX. SEEING BILLY OFFXX. BILLY, THE MYTHXXI. BILLY, THE REALITY...　

SoundsBut while we are confined to books, though the most select andclassic, and read only particular written languages, which arethemselves but dialects and provincial, we are in danger offorgetting the language which all things and events speak withoutmetaphor, which alone is copious and standard. Much is published,but little printed. The rays which stream through the shutter willbe no longer remembered when the shutter is wholly removed. Nomethod nor discipline can supersede the necessity of being foreveron the alert. What is a course of history or philosophy, or poetry,no matter how well selected, or the best society, or the most...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE LAST DREAM OF THE OLD OAKby Hans Christian AndersenIN the forest, high up on the steep shore, and not far from theopen seacoast, stood a very old oak-tree. It was just three hundredand sixty-five years old, but that long time was to the tree as thesame number of days might be to us; we wake by day and sleep by night,and then we have our dreams. It is different with the tree; it isobliged to keep awake through three seasons of the year, and doesnot get any sleep till winter comes. Winter is its time for rest;its night after the long day of spring, summer, and autumn. On many...　

The Ethics [Part II](Ethica Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata)by Benedict de SpinozaTranslated by R. H. M. ElwesPart II: ON THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF THE MINDPREFACE I now pass on to explaining the results, which mustnecessarily follow from the essence of God, or of the eternaland infinite being; not, indeed, all of them (for we proved inPart i., Prop. xvi., that an infinite number must follow in aninfinite number of ways), but only those which are able to leadus, as it were by the hand, to the knowledge of the human mind...　

ConclusionTo the sick the doctors wisely recommend a change of air andscenery. Thank Heaven, here is not all the world. The buckeye doesnot grow in New England, and the mockingbird is rarely heard here.The wild goose is more of a cosmopolite than we; he breaks his fastin Canada, takes a luncheon in the Ohio, and plumes himself for thenight in a southern bayou. Even the bison, to some extent, keepspace with the seasons cropping the pastures of the Colorado onlytill a greener and sweeter grass awaits him by the Yellowstone. Yetwe think that if rail fences are pulled down, and stone walls piledup on our farms, bounds are henceforth set to our lives and our...　

The Vested Interests and the Common Manby Thorstein Veblen1919Chapter 1The Instability of Knowledge and BeliefAs is true of any other point of view that may becharacteristic of any other period of history, so also the modernpoint of view is a matter of habit. It is common to the moderncivilised peoples only in so far as these peoples have comethrough substantially the same historical experience and havethereby acquired substantially the same habits of thought andhave fallen into somewhat the same prevalent frame of mind. Thismodern point of view, therefore, is limited both in time andspace. It is characteristic of the modern historical era and of...　

The Coming Raceby Edward Bulwer LyttonChapter I.I am a native of _____, in the United States of America. My ancestors migrated from England in the reign of Charles II.; and my grandfather was not undistinguished in the War of Independence. My family, therefore, enjoyed a somewhat high social position in right of birth; and being also opulent, they were considered disqualified for the public service. My father once ran for Congress, but was signally defeated by his tailor. After that event he interfered little in politics, and lived much in his library. I was the eldest of three sons, and sent at the age of sixteen to the old country, partly to complete my literary education, partly to c　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENLITTLE CLAUS AND BIG CLAUSby Hans Christian AndersenIN a village there once lived two men who had the same name.They were both called Claus. One of them had four horses, but theother had only one; so to distinguish them, people called the owner ofthe four horses, "Great Claus," and he who had only one, "LittleClaus." Now we shall hear what happened to them, for this is a truestory.Through the whole week, Little Claus was obliged to plough forGreat Claus, and lend him his one horse; and once a week, on a Sunday,Great Claus lent him all his four horses. Then how Little Claus...　

The Ballad of the White Horseby G.K. ChestertonDEDICATIONOf great limbs gone to chaos,A great face turned to nightWhy bend above a shapeless shroudSeeking in such archaic cloudSight of strong lords and light?Where seven sunken EnglandsLie buried one by one,Why should one idle spade, I wonder,Shake up the dust of thanes like thunderTo smoke and choke the sun?In cloud of clay so cast to heavenWhat shape shall man discern?These lords may light the mysteryOf mastery or victory,And these ride high in history,But these shall not return.Gored on the Norman gonfalonThe Golden Dragon died:We shall not wake with ballad stringsThe good time of the smaller things,...　

Characterby Samuel SmilesCHAPTER I.INFLUENCE OF CHARACTER."Unless above himself he canErect himself, how poor a thing is man"DANIEL."Character is moral order seen through the medium, of anindividual nature.... Men of character are the conscience ofthe society to which they belong."EMERSON."The prosperity of a country depends, not on the abundance of itsrevenues, nor on the strength of its fortifications, nor on thebeauty of its public buildings; but it consists in the number ofits cultivated citizens, in its men of education, enlightenment,and character; here are to be found its true interest, its chief...　

THE CHILD WHO CAME FROM AN EGGOnce upon a time there lived a queen whose heart was sore becauseshe had no children. She was sad enough when her husband was athome with her, but when he was away she would see nobody, but satand wept all day long.Now it happened that a war broke out with the king of aneighbouring country, and the queen was left in the palace alone.She was so unhappy that she felt as if the walls would stifleher, so she wandered out into the garden, and threw herself downon a grassy bank, under the shade of a lime tree. She had beenthere for some time, when a rustle among the leaves caused her tolook up, and she saw an old woman limping on her crutches towards...