The Masque of the Red Deathby Edgar Allan PoeThe "Red Death" had long devastated the country. Nopestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was itsAvatar and its sealthe redness and the horror of blood. There weresharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at thepores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body andespecially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban whichshut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men.And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease,were the incidents of half an hour.But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious....　

The Origination of Living Beingsby Thomas H. HuxleyIn the two preceding lectures I have endeavoured to indicate to you theextent of the subject-matter of the inquiry upon which we are engaged;and now, having thus acquired some conception of the Past and Presentphenomena of Organic Nature, I must now turn to that which constitutesthe great problem which we have set before ourselves;I mean, thequestion of what knowledge we have of the causes of these phenomena oforganic nature, and how such knowledge is obtainable.Here, on the threshold of the inquiry, an objection meets us. There arein the world a number of extremely worthy, well-meaning persons, whose...　

Memories and Portraitsby Robert Louis StevensonNOTETHIS volume of papers, unconnected as they are, it will be betterto read through from the beginning, rather than dip into at random.A certain thread of meaning binds them. Memories of childhood andyouth, portraits of those who have gone before us in the battle -taken together, they build up a face that "I have loved long sinceand lost awhile," the face of what was once myself. This has comeby accident; I had no design at first to be autobiographical; I wasbut led away by the charm of beloved memories and by regret for theirrevocable dead; and when my own young face (which is a face of...　

The HeroesThe Heroes1- Page 2-The HeroesPREFACEMY DEAR CHILDREN,Some of you have heard already of the old Greeks; and all of you, asyou grow up, will hear more and more of them. Those of you who areboys will, perhaps, spend a great deal of time in reading Greek books;and the girls, though they may not learn Greek, will be sure to comeacross a great many stories taken from Greek history, and to see, I may...　

The Registerby William D. HowellsI.SCENE: In an upper chamber of a boarding-house in Melanchthon Place,Boston, a mature, plain young lady, with every appearance ofestablishing herself in the room for the first time, moves about,bestowing little touches of decoration here and there, and talkingwith another young lady, whose voice comes through the open doorwayof an inner room.MISS ETHEL REED, from within: "What in the world are you doing,Nettie?"MISS HENRIETTA SPAULDING: "Oh, sticking up a household god or two.What are you doing?"MISS REED: "Despairing."MISS SPAULDING: "Still?"MISS REED, tragically: "Still! How soon did you expect me to stop?...　

TARTARIN OF TARASCONbyALPHONSE DAUDETEPISODE THE FIRSTIN TARASCONI. The Garden Round the Giant Trees.My first visit to Tartarin of Tarascon has remained a never-to-be- forgotten date in my life; although quite ten or a dozen years ago, I remember it better than yesterday.At that time the intrepid Tartarin lived in the third house on the left as the town begins, on the Avignon road. A pretty little villa in the local style, with a front garden and a balcony behind, the walls glaringly white and the venetians very green; and always about the doorsteps a brood of little Savoyard shoeblackguards playing hopscotch, or dozing in the broad sunshine with their heads pillowed on their boxes....　

Confidence by Henry JamesCHAPTER IIt was in the early days of April; Bernard Longueville had been spending the winter in Rome. He had travelled northward with the consciousness of several social duties that appealed to him from the further side of the Alps, but he was under the charm of the Italian spring, and he made a pretext for lingering. He had spent five days at Siena, where he had intended to spend but two, and still it was impossible to continue his journey. He was a young man of a contemplative and speculative turn, and this was his first visit to Italy, so that if he dallied by the way he should not be harshly judged. He had a fancy for sketching, and it was on his conscience to　

THE BRONZE RINGOnce upon a time in a certain country there lived aking whose palace was surrounded by a spacious garden.But, though the gardeners were many and the soil wasgood, this garden yielded neither flowers nor fruits, noteven grass or shady trees.The King was in despair about it, when a wise old mansaid to him:"Your gardeners do not understand their business: butwhat can you expect of men whose fathers were cobblersand carpenters? How should they have learned to cultivateyour garden?""You are quite right," cried the King."Therefore," continued the old man, "you should sendfor a gardener whose father and grandfather have been...　

PRELIMINARY CHAPTER.* [Note-This Preliminary Chapter originally formed the first of the Novel, but* has now been printed in italics on account of its introductory character.]So down thy hill, romantic Ashbourn, glidesThe Derby dilly, carrying six insides.Frere.The times have changed in nothing more (we follow as we werewont the manuscript of Peter Pattieson) than in the rapid conveyanceof intelligence and communication betwixt one part of Scotlandand another. It is not above twenty or thirty years, according tothe evidence of many credible witnesses now alive, since a littlemiserable horse-cart, performing with difficulty a journey of thirty...　

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON, V10BY CONSTANTPREMIER VALET DE CHAMBRETRANSLATED BY WALTER CLARK1895CONTENTS:CHAPTER VIII. to CHAPTER XIV.CHAPTER VIII.During the whole Russian campaign, the Emperor was nearly always badlylodged. It was necessary, however, to accommodate himself tocircumstances; though this was a somewhat difficult task to those whowere accustomed to lodge in palaces. The Emperor accepted the situationbravely, and all his followers consequently did the same. In consequenceof the system of incendiarism adopted as the policy of Russia, thewealthy part of the population withdrew into the country, abandoning to...　

The Large Catechismby Dr. Martin LutherTranslated by F. Bente and W. H. T. DauPrefaceA Christian, Profitable, and Necessary Preface and Faithful, EarnestExhortation of Dr. Martin Luther to All Christians, but Especially toAll Pastors and Preachers, that They Should Daily Exercise Themselvesin the Catechism, which is a Short Summary and Epitome of the EntireHoly Scriptures, and that they May Always Teach the Same.We have no slight reasons for treating the Catechism so constantly [inSermons] and for both desiring and beseeching others to teach it, sincewe see to our sorrow that many pastors and preachers are very negligentin this, and slight both their office and this teaching; some from...　

The Foundations of Personalityby Abraham MyersonCONTENTSINTRODUCTIONI. THE ORGANIC BASIS OF CHARACTERII. THE ENVIRONMENTAL BASIS OF CHARACTERIII. MEMORY AND HABITIV. STIMULATION, INHIBITION, ORGANIZING ENERGY, CHOICEAND CONSCIOUSNESSV. HYSTERIA, SUBCONSCIOUSNESS AND FREUDIANISMVI. EMOTION, INSTINCT, INTELLIGENCE AND WILLVII. EXCITEMENT, MONOTONY AND INTERESTVIII. THE SENTIMENTS OF LOVE, FRIENDSHIP, HATE, PITYAND DUTY, COMPENSATION AND ESCAPEIX. ENERGY RELEASE AND THE EMOTIONSX. COURAGE, RESIGNATION, SUBLIMATION, PATIENCE, THEWISH AND ANHEDONIAXI. THE EVOLUTION OF CHARACTER WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCETO THE GROWTH OF PURPOSE AND PERSONALITY...