Speeches: Literary and Socialby Charles DickensSPEECH: EDINBURGH, JUNE 25, 1841.[At a public dinner, given in honour of Mr. Dickens, and presidedover by the late Professor Wilson, the Chairman having proposed hishealth in a long and eloquent speech, Mr. Dickens returned thanksas follows:-]IF I felt your warm and generous welcome less, I should be betterable to thank you. If I could have listened as you have listenedto the glowing language of your distinguished Chairman, and if Icould have heard as you heard the "thoughts that breathe and wordsthat burn," which he has uttered, it would have gone hard but I...　

THE BLACK ARROW - A TALE OF THE TWO ROSESPROLOGUE - JOHN AMEND-ALLOn a certain afternoon, in the late springtime, the bell uponTunstall Moat House was heard ringing at an unaccustomed hour. Farand near, in the forest and in the fields along the river, peoplebegan to desert their labours and hurry towards the sound; and inTunstall hamlet a group of poor country-folk stood wondering at thesummons.Tunstall hamlet at that period, in the reign of old King Henry VI.,wore much the same appearance as it wears to-day. A score or so ofhouses, heavily framed with oak, stood scattered in a long greenvalley ascending from the river. At the foot, the road crossed a...　

Sarrasineby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Clara Bell and othersDEDICATIONTo Monsieur Charles Bernard du Grail.SARRASINEI was buried in one of those profound reveries to which everybody,even a frivolous man, is subject in the midst of the most uproariousfestivities. The clock on the Elysee-Bourbon had just struck midnight.Seated in a window recess and concealed behind the undulating folds ofa curtain of watered silk, I was able to contemplate at my leisure thegarden of the mansion at which I was passing the evening. The trees,being partly covered with snow, were outlined indistinctly against thegrayish background formed by a cloudy sky, barely whitened by the...　

The Modern Regime, Volume 1 [Napoleon]The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 5by Hippolyte A. TaineContents:PREFACEBOOK FIRST. Napoleon Bonaparte.Chapter I. Historical Importance of his Character and Genius.Chapter II. His Ideas, Passions and Intelligence.BOOK SECOND. Formation and Character of the New State.Chapter I. The Institution of Government.Chapter II. Use and Abuse of Government Services.Chapter III. The New Government Organization.BOOK THIRD. Object and Merits of the System....　

THE MONKEY AND THE JELLY-FISHChildren must often have wondered why jelly-fishes have noshells, like so many of the creatures that are washed up everyday on the beach. In old times this was not so; the jelly-fishhad as hard a shell as any of them, but he lost it through hisown fault, as may be seen in this story.The sea-queen Otohime, whom you read of in the story ofUraschimatoro, grew suddenly very ill. The swiftest messengerswere sent hurrying to fetch the best doctors from every countryunder the sea, but it was all of no use; the queen grew rapidlyworse instead of better. Everyone had almost given up hope, whenone day a doctor arrived who was cleverer than the rest, and said...　

ORTHODOXYBYGILBERT K. CHESTERTONPREFACEThis book is meant to be a companion to "Heretics," and toput the positive side in addition to the negative. Many criticscomplained of the book called "Heretics" because it merely criticisedcurrent philosophies without offering any alternative philosophy.This book is an attempt to answer the challenge. It is unavoidablyaffirmative and therefore unavoidably autobiographical. The writer hasbeen driven back upon somewhat the same difficulty as that which beset...　

Phyllis of Philistiaby Frank Frankfort MooreCHAPTER I.AN ASTRONOMER WITHOUT A TELESCOPE."After all," said Mr. Ayrton, "what is marriage?""Ah!" sighed Phyllis. She knew that her father had become possessed of a phrase, and that he was anxious to flutter it before her to see how it went. He was a connoisseur in the bric-a-brac of phrases."Marriage means all your eggs in one basket," said he."Ah!" sighed Phyllis once more. She wondered if her father really thought that she would be comforted in her great grief by a phrase. She did not want to know how marriage might be defined. She knew that all definitions are indefinite. She knew that in the case of marriage everything depends upon the defin　

The Magic Skinby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Ellen MarriageTo Monsieur Savary, Member of Le Academie des Sciences.ITHE TALISMANTowards the end of the month of October 1829 a young man entered thePalais-Royal just as the gaming-houses opened, agreeably to the lawwhich protects a passion by its very nature easily excisable. Hemounted the staircase of one of the gambling hells distinguished bythe number 36, without too much deliberation."Your hat, sir, if you please?" a thin, querulous voice called out. Alittle old man, crouching in the darkness behind a railing, suddenlyrose and exhibited his features, carved after a mean design....　

Chapter IV of Volume IIWITH no greater events than these in the Longbourn family, and otherwise diversified by little beyond the walks to Meryton, sometimes dirty and sometimes cold, did January and February pass away. March was to take Elizabeth to Hunsford. She had not at first thought very seriously of going thither; but Charlotte, she soon found, was depending on the plan, and she gradually learned to consider it herself with greater pleasure as well as greater certainty. Absence had increased her desire of seeing Charlotte again, and weakened her disgust of Mr. Collins. There was novelty in the scheme; and as, with such a mother and such uncompanionable sisters, home could not be fault　

Dreamsby Olive SchreinerTo a small girl-child, who may live to grasp somewhat of that which for us is yet sight, not touch.Note.These Dreams are printed in the order in which they were written.In the case of two there was a lapse of some years between the writing of the first and last parts; these are placed according to the date of the first part.Olive Schreiner.Matjesfontein, Cape Colony, South Africa. November, 1890.CONTENTS.I. The Lost Joy.II. The Hunter (From "The Story of of an African Farm").III. The Gardens of Pleasure.IV. In a Far-off World.V. Three Dreams in a Desert.VI. A Dream of Wild Bees (Written as a letter to a friend)....　

Essays on Life, Art and Scienceby Samuel ButlerContents:IntroductionQuis Desiderio?Ramblings in CheapsideThe Aunt, The Nieces, and the DogHow to make the best of lifeThe Sanctuary of MontrigoneA Medieval Girl SchoolArt in the Valley of SaasThought and LanguageThe Deadlock in DarwinismINTRODUCTIONIt is hardly necessary to apologise for the miscellaneous characterof the following collection of essays. Samuel Butler was a man ofsuch unusual versatility, and his interests were so many and sovarious that his literary remains were bound to cover a wide field.Nevertheless it will be found that several of the subjects to which...　

Masterman Readyby Captain Marryat( Frederick Marryat )Chapter IIt was in the month of October, 18, that the Pacific, a large ship, was running before a heavy gale of wind in the middle of the vast Atlantic Ocean. She had but little sail, for the wind was so strong, that the canvas would have been split into pieces by the furious blasts before which she was driven through the waves, which were very high, and following her almost as fast as she darted through their boiling waters; sometimes heaving up her stern and sinking her bows down so deep into the hollow of the sea, that it appeared as if she would have dived down underneath the waves; but she was a fine vessel, and the captain was a go