The Castle of Otrantoby Horace WalpolePREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.THE following work was found in the library of an ancient Catholic family in the north of England. It was printed at Naples, in the black letter, in the year 1529. How much sooner it was written does not appear. The principal incidents are such as were believed in the darkest ages of Christianity; but the language and conduct have nothing that savours of barbarism. The style is the purest Italian.If the story was written near the time when it is supposed to have happened, it must have been between 1095, the era of the first Crusade, and 1243, the date of the last, or not long afterwards. There is no other circum　

Appendix to History of Friedrich II of Prussiaby Thomas CarlyleThis Piece, it would seem, was translated sixteen years ago;some four or five years before any part of the present HISTORY OFFRIEDRICH got to paper. The intercalated bits of Commentary were,as is evident, all or mostly written at the same time:these also,though they are now become, in parts, SUPERFLUOUS to a reader thathas been diligent, I have not thought of changing, where notcompelled. Here and there, especially in the Introductory Part,some slight additions have crept in;which the above kind ofreader will possibly enough detect; and may even have, for friendlyreasons, some vestige of interest in assigning to their new date..　

Christie JohnstoneA NOVELby Charles ReadeI dedicate all that is good in this work to my mother.C. R.,NOTETHIS story was written three years ago, and one or two topics in it arenot treated exactly as they would be if written by the same hand to-day.But if the author had retouched those pages with his colors of 1853, hewould (he thinks) have destroyed the only merit they have, viz., that ofcontaining genuine contemporaneous verdicts upon a cant that wasflourishing like a peony, and a truth that was struggling for bare life,in the year of truth 1850.He prefers to deal fairly with the public, and, with this explanation andapology, to lay at its feet a faulty but genuine piece of work....　

Balladsby Robert Louis StevensonTHE SONG OF RAHEROA LEGEND OF TAHITITO ORI A ORIORI, my brother in the island mode,In every tongue and meaning much my friend,This story of your country and your clan,In your loved house, your too much honoured guest,I made in English. Take it, being done;And let me sign it with the name you gave.TERIITERA.I. THE SLAYING OF TAMATEAIT fell in the days of old, as the men of Taiarapu tell,A youth went forth to the fishing, and fortune favoured him well.Tamatea his name: gullible, simple, and kind,Comely of countenance, nimble of body, empty of mind,...　

HERETICSbyGilbert K. Chesterton"To My Father"The AuthorGilbert Keith Chesterton was born in London, England on the 29thof May, 1874. Though he considered himself a mere "rollicking journalist,"he was actually a prolific and gifted writer in virtually every areaof literature. A man of strong opinions and enormously talentedat defending them, his exuberant personality nevertheless allowedhim to maintain warm friendships with peoplesuch as George BernardShaw and H. G. Wellswith whom he vehemently disagreed....　

The Tale of Balenby Algernon Charles SwinburneDEDICATIONTO MY MOTHERLove that holds life and death in fee,Deep as the clear unsounded seaAnd sweet as life or death can be,Lays here my hope, my heart, and meBefore you, silent, in a song.Since the old wild tale, made new, found grace,When half sung through, before your face,It needs must live a springtide space,While April suns grow strong.March 24, 1896.THE TALE OF BALENIn hawthorn-time the heart grows light,The world is sweet in sound and sight,Glad thoughts and birds take flower and flight,The heather kindles toward the light,The whin is frankincense and flame.And be it for strife or be it for love...　

Michael Strogoffby Jules VerneorThe Courier of the CzarMichael StrogoffBOOK ICHAPTER I A FETE AT THE NEW PALACE"SIRE, a fresh dispatch.""Whence?""From Tomsk?""Is the wire cut beyond that city?""Yes, sire, since yesterday.""Telegraph hourly to Tomsk, General, and keep me informedof all that occurs.""Sire, it shall be done," answered General Kissoff.These words were exchanged about two hours after midnight,at the moment when the fete given at the New Palace was atthe height of its splendor.During the whole evening the bands of the Preobra-jensky and Paulowskyregiments had played without cessation polkas, mazurkas, schottisches,...　

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMESA Case of Identity"My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side ofthe fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitelystranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. Wewould not dare to conceive the things which are really merecommonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that windowhand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the roofs,and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the strangecoincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the wonderfulchains of events, working through generations, and leading to the...　

The Itinerary of Archibishop Baldwin through Walesby Giraldus CambrensisINTRODUCTIONGerald the Welshman - Giraldus Cambrensis - was born, probably in 1147, at Manorbier Castle in the county of Pembroke. His father was a Norman noble, William de Barri, who took his name from the little island of Barry off the coast of Glamorgan. His mother, Angharad, was the daughter of Gerald de Windsor {1} by his wife, the famous Princess Nesta, the "Helen of Wales," and the daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr Mawr, the last independent Prince of South Wales.Gerald was therefore born to romance and adventure. He was reared in the traditions of the House of Dinevor. He heard the brilliant and pitiful stories of 　

Philosophy of Historyby HegelTable of ContentsIntroductionO The subject of this course of Lectures is the Philosophical History of the World.SECTION ONE: Original History§ 1 They simply transferred what was passing in the world around them, to the realm ofrepresentative intellect.§ 2 The influences that have formed the writer are identical with those which have moulded theevents that constitute the matter of his story.§ 3 What the historian puts into the mouths of orators is an uncorrupted transcript of theirintellectual and moral habitudes.§ 4 Among the ancients, these annalists were necessarily great captains and statesmen....　

Letters of Ciceroby Marcus Tullius CiceroTranslated by E. S. ShuckburghTHE letters of Cicero are of a very varied character. They range from the most informal communications with members of his family to serious and elaborate compositions which are practically treatises in epistolary form. A very large proportion of them were obviously written out of the mood of the moment, with no thought of the possibility of publication; and in these the style is comparatively relaxed and colloquial. Others, addressed to public characters, are practically of the same nature as his speeches, discussions of political questions intended to influence public opinion, and performing a function in the Roman lif　

Juanaby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley)DEDICATIONTo Madame la Comtesse Merlin.JUANA(THE MARANAS)CHAPTER IEXPOSITIONNotwithstanding the discipline which Marechal Suchet had introducedinto his army corps, he was unable to prevent a short period oftrouble and disorder at the taking of Tarragona. According to certainfair-minded military men, this intoxication of victory bore a strikingresemblance to pillage, though the marechal promptly suppressed it.Order being re-established, each regiment quartered in its respectivelines, and the commandant of the city appointed, military...