The City of the Sunby Tommaso CampanellsA Poetical Dialogue between a Grandmaster of the KnightsHospitallers and a Genoese Sea-Captain, his guest.G.M. Prithee, now, tell me what happened to you duringthat voyage?Capt. I have already told you how I wanderedover the whole earth. In the course of my journeying I cameto Taprobane, and was compelled to go ashore at a place, wherethrough fear of the inhabitants I remained in a wood. When Istepped out of this I found myself on a large plain immediatelyunder the equator.G.M. And what befell you here?Capt. I came upon a large crowd of men and armed women,many of whom did not understand our language, and they con-...　

The Writings of Abraham Lincolnby Abraham LincolnVOLUME THREETHE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES IPOLITICAL SPEECHES & DEBATES of LINCOLN WITH DOUGLASIn the Senatorial Campaign of 1858 in IllinoisSPEECH AT SPRINGFIELD, JUNE 17, 1858[The following speech was delivered at Springfield, Ill., at theclose of the Republican State Convention held at that time andplace, and by which Convention Mr. LINCOLN had been named astheir candidate for United States Senator. Mr. DOUGLAS was notpresent.]Mr. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION:If we could firstknow where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better...　

The Virgin of the SunBy H. Rider HaggardDEDICATIONMy Dear Little,Some five-and-thirty years ago it was our custom to discuss manymatters, among them, I think, the history and romance of thevanished Empires of Central America.In memory of those far-off days will you accept a tale that dealswith one of them, that of the marvellous Incas of Peru; with thelegend also that, long before the Spanish Conquerors entered ontheir mission of robbery and ruin, there in that undiscovered landlived and died a White God risen from the sea?Ever sincerely yours,...　

Decline of Science in Englandby Charles BabbageREFLECTIONS ON THE DECLINE OF SCIENCE IN ENGLAND,AND ON SOME OF ITS CAUSES.DEDICATION.HAD I INTENDED TO DEDICATE THIS VOLUME, I SHOULD HAVE INSCRIBED IT TO A NOBLEMAN WHOSE EXERTIONS IN PROMOTING EVERY OBJECT THAT CAN ADVANCE SCIENCE REFLECT LUSTRE UPON HIS RANK. BUT THE KINDNESS OF HIS NATURE MIGHT HAVE BEEN PAINED AT HAVING HIS NAME CONNECTED WITH STRICTURES, PERHAPS TOO SEVERELY JUST. I SHALL, THEREFORE, ABSTAIN FROM MENTIONING THE NAME OF ONE WHO WILL FEEL THAT HE HAS COMMANDED MY ESTEEM AND RESPECT.C. BABBAGE.DORSET STREET, MANCHESTER SQUARE, 29th April, 1830.PREFACE.Of the causes which have induced me to print this volume I have little 　

Inhabitants of the Alhambra.I HAVE often observed that the more proudly a mansion has beentenanted in the day of its prosperity, the humbler are its inhabitantsin the day of its decline, and that the palace of a king commonly endsin being the nestling-place of the beggar.The Alhambra is in a rapid state of similar transition. Whenever atower falls to decay, it is seized upon by some tatterdemalion family,who become joint-tenants, with the bats and owls, of its gilded halls,and hang their rags, those standards of poverty, out of its windowsand loopholes.I have amused myself with remarking some of the motley characters...　

A JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEARby DANIEL DEFOEPart 1being observations or memorialsof the most remarkable occurrences,as well public as private, which happened inLondon during the last great visitation in 1665.Written by a Citizen who continuedall the while in London.Never made public beforeIt was about the beginning of September, 1664, that I, among the restof my neighbours, heard in ordinary discourse that the plague wasreturned again in Holland; for it had been very violent there, andparticularly at Amsterdam and Rotterdam, in the year 1663, whither,they say, it was brought, some said from Italy, others from the Levant,...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENBEAUTY OF FORM AND BEAUTY OF MINDby Hans Christian AndersenTHERE was once a sculptor, named Alfred, who having won thelarge gold medal and obtained a travelling scholarship, went to Italy,and then came back to his native land. He was young at that time-indeed, he is young still, although he is ten years older than hewas then. On his return, he went to visit one of the little towns inthe island of Zealand. The whole town knew who the stranger was; andone of the richest men in the place gave a party in his honor, and allwho were of any consequence, or who possessed some property, were...　

THE $30,000 BEQUESTCHAPTER ILakeside was a pleasant little town of five or six thousand inhabitants,and a rather pretty one, too, as towns go in the Far West.It had church accommodations for thirty-five thousand, which isthe way of the Far West and the South, where everybody is religious,and where each of the Protestant sects is represented and has a plantof its own. Rank was unknown in Lakesideunconfessed, anyway;everybody knew everybody and his dog, and a sociable friendlinesswas the prevailing atmosphere.Saladin Foster was book-keeper in the principal store, and the onlyhigh-salaried man of his profession in Lakeside. He was thirty-five...　

Of Taxesby David HumeThere is a prevailing maxim, among some reasoners, that everynew tax creates a new ability in the subject to bear it, and thateach encrease of public burdens encreases proportionably theindustry of the people. This maxim is of such a nature as is mostlikely to be abused; and is so much the more dangerous, as itstruth cannot be altogether denied: but it must be owned, whenkept within certain bounds, to have some foundation in reason andexperience.When a tax is laid upon commodities, which are consumed bythe common people, the necessary consequence may seem to be,either that the poor must retrench something from their way of...　

THE WITCH IN THE STONE BOAT[31][31] From the Icelandic.There were once a King and a Queen, and they had a son calledSigurd, who was very strong and active, and good-looking. Whenthe King came to be bowed down with the weight of years he spoketo his son, and said that now it was time for him to look out fora fitting match for himself, for he did not know how long hemight last now, and he would like to see him married before hedied.Sigurd was not averse to this, and asked his father where hethought it best to look for a wife. The King answered that in acertain country there was a King who had a beautiful daughter,and he thought it would be most desirable if Sigurd could get...　

THE INVISIBLE PRINCEOnce upon a time there lived a Fairy who had power over theearth, the sea, fire, and the air; and this Fairy had four sons.The eldest, who was quick and lively, with a vivid imagination,she made Lord of Fire, which was in her opinion the noblest ofall the elements. To the second son, whose wisdom and prudencemade amends for his being rather dull, she gave the government ofthe earth. The third was wild and savage, and of monstrousstature; and the Fairy, his mother, who was ashamed of hisdefects, hoped to hide them by creating him King of the Seas.The youngest, who was the slave of his passions and of a veryuncertain temper, became Prince of the Air....　

The Firm of Nucingenby Honore de BalzacTranslated by James WaringTO MADAME ZULMA CARRAUDTo whom, madame, but to you should I inscribe this work; to you whose lofty and candid intellect is a treasury to your friends; to you that are to me not only a whole public, but the most indulgent of sisters as well? Will you deign to accept a token of the friendship of which I am proud? You, and some few souls as noble, will grasp the whole of the thought underlying The Firm of Nucingen, appended to Cesar Birotteau. Is there not a whole social lesson in the contrast between the two stories?DE BALZAC.You know how slight the partitions are between the private rooms of fashionable restaurant