The Wood Beyond the Worldby William MorrisCHAPTER I: OF GOLDEN WALTER AND HIS FATHERAwhile ago there was a young man dwelling in a great and goodly cityby the sea which had to name Langton on Holm. He was but of fiveand twenty winters, a fair-faced man, yellow-haired, tall andstrong; rather wiser than foolisher than young men are mostly wont;a valiant youth, and a kind; not of many words but courteous ofspeech; no roisterer, nought masterful, but peaceable and knowinghow to forbear: in a fray a perilous foe, and a trusty war-fellow.His father, with whom he was dwelling when this tale begins, was agreat merchant, richer than a baron of the land, a head-man of the...　

Of Refinement in the Artsby David HumeLUXURY is a word of an uncertain signification, and may betaken in a good as well as in a bad sense. In general, it meansgreat refinement in the gratification of the senses; and anydegree of it may be innocent or blameable, according to the age,or country, or condition of the person. The bounds between thevirtue and the vice cannot here be exactly fixed, more than inother moral subjects. To imagine, that the gratifying of anysense, or the indulging of any delicacy in meat, drink, orapparel, is of itself a vice, can never enter into a head, thatis not disordered by the frenzies of enthusiasm. I have, indeed,heard of a monk abroad, who, because the window　

THE SKETCH BOOKWESTMINSTER ABBEYby Washington IrvingWhen I behold, with deep astonishment,To famous Westminster how there resorteLiving in brasse or stoney monument,The princes and the worthies of all sorte;Doe not I see reformde nobilitie,Without contempt, or pride, or ostentation,And looke upon offenselesse majesty,Naked of pomp or earthly domination?And how a play-game of a painted stoneContents the quiet now and silent sprites,Whome all the world which late they stood upon...　

His Own Peopleby Booth TarkingtonI. A Change of LodgingThe glass-domed "palm-room" of the Grand Continental Hotel Magnifiquein Rome is of vasty heights and distances, filled with a mellow greenlight which filters down languidly through the upper foliage of tallpalms, so that the two hundred people who may be refreshing ordisplaying themselves there at the tea-hour have something the lookof under-water creatures playing upon the sea-bed. They appear,however, to be unaware of their condition; even the ladies, most likeanemones of that gay assembly, do not seem to know it; and when theHungarian band (crustacean-like in costume, and therefore wellwithin the picture) has sheathed its flying te　

The Works of Edgar Allan PoeVolume 1 of the Raven EditionIN FIVE VOLUMESVOLUME I ContentsEdgar Allan Poe, An AppreciationLife of Poe, by James Russell LowellDeath of Poe, by N. P. WillisThe Unparalled Adventures of One Hans PfallThe Gold BugFour Beasts in OneThe Murders in the Rue MorgueThe Mystery of Marie Rog阾The Balloon HoaxMS. Found in a BottleThe Oval PortraitEDGAR ALLAN POEAN APPRECIATIONCaught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful DisasterFollowed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden boreTill the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden boreOf "nevernever more!"THIS stanza from "The Raven" was recommended by James Russell Lowell...　

The Uncommercial Travellerby Charles DickensCHAPTER I - HIS GENERAL LINE OF BUSINESSAllow me to introduce myself - first negatively.No landlord is my friend and brother, no chambermaid loves me, nowaiter worships me, no boots admires and envies me. No round ofbeef or tongue or ham is expressly cooked for me, no pigeon-pie isespecially made for me, no hotel-advertisement is personallyaddressed to me, no hotel-room tapestried with great-coats andrailway wrappers is set apart for me, no house of publicentertainment in the United Kingdom greatly cares for my opinion ofits brandy or sherry. When I go upon my journeys, I am not usually...　

The Costby David Graham PhillipsCONTENTSCHAPTERI A FATHER INVITES DISASTERII OLIVIA TO THE RESCUEIII AND SCARBOROUGHIV A DUMONT TRIUMPHV FOUR FRIENDSVI "LIKE HIS FATHER"VII PAULINE AWAKENSVIII THE DECISIONIX A THOROUGHBRED RUNS AWAYX MRS. JOHN DUMONTXI YOUNG AMERICAXII AFTER EIGHT YEARSXIII "MY SISTER IN LAW, GLADYSXIV STRAINING AT THE ANCHORSXV GRADUATED PEARLSXVI CHOICE AMONG EVILS...　

The Ancient RegimeThe Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 1by Hippolyte A. TainePREFACE.BOOK FIRST. The Structure of the Ancient Society.CHAPTER I. The Origin of Privileges.CHAPTER II. The Privileged Classes.CHAPTER III. Local Services Due by the Privileged Classes.CHAPTER IV. Public services due by the privileged classes.BOOK SECOND. Habits and Characters.CHAPTER I. Social Habits.CHAPTER II. Drawing room Life .CHAPTER III. Disadvantages of this Drawing room Life.BOOK THIRD. The Spirit and the Doctrine.CHAPTER I. Scientific Acquisition....　

DEAD SOULSPART ICHAPTER ITo the door of an inn in the provincial town of N. there drew up a smart britchkaa light spring-carriage of the sort affected by bachelors, retired lieutenant-colonels, staff-captains, land-owners possessed of about a hundred souls, and, in short, all persons who rank as gentlemen of the intermediate category. In the britchka was seated such a gentlemana man who, though not handsome, was not ill-favoured, not over-fat, and not over-thin. Also, though not over-elderly, he was not over-young. His arrival produced no stir in the town, and was accompanied by no particular incident, beyond that a couple of peasants who happened to be standing at the door of a dramshop ex　

Wessex Talesby Thomas HardyContents:PrefaceAn Imaginative WomanThe Three StrangersThe Withered ArmFellow-TownsmenInterlopers at the KnapThe Distracted PreacherPREFACEAn apology is perhaps needed for the neglect of contrast which isshown by presenting two consecutive stories of hangmen in such asmall collection as the following. But in the neighbourhood ofcounty-towns tales of executions used to form a large proportion ofthe local traditions; and though never personally acquainted withany chief operator at such scenes, the writer of these pages had asa boy the privilege of being on speaking terms with a man who...　

Vailima Lettersby Robert Louis StevensonCHAPTER IIN THE MOUNTAIN, APIA, SAMOA,MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2ND, 1890MY DEAR COLVIN, - This is a hard and interesting andbeautiful life that we lead now. Our place is in a deepcleft of Vaea Mountain, some six hundred feet above the sea,embowered in forest, which is our strangling enemy, and whichwe combat with axes and dollars. I went crazy over outdoorwork, and had at last to confine myself to the house, orliterature must have gone by the board. NOTHING is sointeresting as weeding, clearing, and path-making; theoversight of labourers becomes a disease; it is quite an...　

The Vicar of Wakefieldby Oliver GoldsmithA TALESupposed to be written by HimselfSperate miseri, cavete faelicesADVERTISEMENTThere are an hundred faults in this Thing, and an hundred things might be said to prove them beauties. But it is needless. A book may be amusing with numerous errors, or it may be very dull without a single absurdity. The hero of this piece unites in himself the three greatest characters upon earth; he is a priest, an husbandman, and the father of a family. He is drawn as ready to teach, and ready to obey, as simple in affluence, and majestic in adversity. In this age of opulence and refinement whom can such a character please? Such as are fond of high life, will turn