Rosamund, Queen of the Lombardsby Algernon Charles SwinburnePERSONS REPRESENTEDALBOVINE, King of the Lombards.ALMACHILDES, a young Lombard warrior.NARSETES, an old leader and counsellor.ROSAMUND, Queen of the LombardsHILDEGARD, a noble Lombard maiden.SCENE, VERONATime, June 573ACT IA hall in the Palace: a curtain drawn midway across it.Enter ALBOVINE and NARSETES.ALBOVINE.This is no matter of the wars: in warThy king, old friend, is less than king of thine,And comrade less than follower. Hast thou lovedEverloved woman, not as chance may love,But as thou hast loved thy sword or friendor me?Thou hast shewn me love more stout of heart than death....　

Flatland: A Romance of Many DimensionsEdwin A. Abbott (1838-1926. English scholar, theologian, and writer.)ToThe Inhabitants of SPACE IN GENERALAnd H. C. IN PARTICULARThis Work is DedicatedBy a Humble Native of FlatlandIn the Hope thatEven as he was Initiated into the MysteriesOf THREE DimensionsHaving been previously conversantWith ONLY TWOSo the Citizens of that Celestial RegionMay aspire yet higher and higher...　

THE IMITATION OF CHRISTTHE IMITATION OFCHRISTby Thomas a KempisTranslated by Rev. William Benham1- Page 2-THE IMITATION OF CHRISTINTRODUCTORY NOTEThe treatise "Of the Imitation of Christ" appears to have beenoriginally written in Latin early in the fifteenth century. Its exact dateand its authorship are still a matter of debate. Manuscripts of the Latinversion survive in considerable numbers all over Western Europe, and they,...　

TEA-TABLE TALKTEA-TABLE TALKby Jerome K. Jerome1- Page 2-TEA-TABLE TALKCHAPTER I"They are very pretty, some of them," said the Woman of the World;"not the sort of letters I should have written myself.""I should like to see a love-letter of yours," interrupted the Minor Poet."It is very kind of you to say so," replied the Woman of the World. "Itnever occurred to me that you would care for one.""It is what I have always maintained," retorted the Minor Poet; "you...　

400 BCOF THE EPIDEMICSby Hippocratestranslated by Francis AdamsOF THE EPIDEMICSBOOK I. Sect. I. First Constitution1. IN THASUS, about the autumn equinox, and under the Pleiades,the rains were abundant, constant, and soft, with southerly winds; thewinter southerly, the northerly winds faint, droughts; on the whole,the winter having the character of spring. The spring was southerly,cool, rains small in quantity. Summer, for the most part, cloudy, no...　

SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE ADVENTURE OF THE RETIRED COLOURMANby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleSherlock Holmes was in a melancholy and philosophic mood thatmorning. His alert practical nature was subject to such reactions."Did you see him?" he asked."You mean the old fellow who has just gone out?""Precisely.""Yes, I met him at the door.""What did you think of him?""A pathetic, futile, broken creature.""Exactly, Watson. Pathetic and futile. But is not all lifepathetic and futile? Is not his story a microcosm of the whole? Wereach. We grasp. And what is left in our hands at the end? A shadow....　

Some Reminiscencesby Joseph ConradA Familiar Preface.As a general rule we do not want much encouragement to talk aboutourselves; yet this little book is the result of a friendlysuggestion, and even of a little friendly pressure. I defendedmyself with some spirit; but, with characteristic tenacity, thefriendly voice insisted: "You know, you really must."It was not an argument, but I submitted at once. If one must!. . .You perceive the force of a word. He who wants to persuadeshould put his trust, not in the right argument, but in the right...　

THE VOICE OF DEATHONCE upon a time there lived a man whose one wish and prayerwas to get rich. Day and night he thought of nothing else,and at last his prayers were granted, and he became very wealthy.Now being so rich, and having so much to lose, he felt that it wouldbe a terrible thing to die and leave all his possessions behind; so hemade up his mind to set out in search of a land where there was nodeath. He got ready for his journey, took leave of his wife, andstarted. Whenever he came to a new country the first questionthat he asked was whether people died in that land, and when heheard that they did, he set out again on his quest. At last he...　

The Vicar of Toursby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Katharine Prescott WormeleyDEDICATIONTo David, Sculptor:The permanence of the work on which I inscribe your nametwice made illustrious in this centuryis very problematical;whereas you have graven mine in bronze which survives nationsif only in their coins. The day may come when numismatists,discovering amid the ashes of Paris existences perpetuated byyou, will wonder at the number of heads crowned in youratelier and endeavour to find in them new dynasties.To you, this divine privilege; to me, gratitude.De Balzac.THE VICAR OF TOURS...　

Elinor Wyllysby Susan Fenimore CooperIN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II.EDITED BY J. FENIMORE COOPER.CHAPTER I {would be CHAPTER XXIV, if numbered from beginning of Vol. I}"But there is matter for another rhyme; And I to this would add another tale." WORDSWORTH."And how do Miss and Madam do; The little boy, and all? All tight and well? and how do you, Good Mr. What-do-you-call?" COWPER.{William Wordsworth (English poet, 1770-1850), "Poems of the Imagination: Hart-Leap Well" lines 95-96. William Cowper (English poet, 1731-1800), "The Yearly Distress, or, Tithing Time at Stock in Essex" lines 33-36}It is to be feared the reader will find fault with this chapter. But there is no remedy; he must submit q　

A RECORD OF BUDDHISTIC KINGDOMSA RECORD OFBUDDHISTICKINGDOMSTranslated and annotated with a Corean recension of the ChinesetextBY JAMES LEGGE1- Page 2-A RECORD OF BUDDHISTIC KINGDOMSPREFACESeveral times during my long residence in Hong Kong I endeavouredto read through the "Narrative of Fa-hien;" but though interested with thegraphic details of much of the work, its columns bristled so constantly...　

A Phyllis Of The Sierrasby Bret HarteCHAPTER I.Where the great highway of the Sierras nears the summit, and thepines begin to show sterile reaches of rock and waste in theirdrawn-up files, there are signs of occasional departures from themain road, as if the weary traveller had at times succumbed to thelong ascent, and turned aside for rest and breath again. The tiredeyes of many a dusty passenger on the old overland coach have gazedwistfully on those sylvan openings, and imagined recesses ofprimeval shade and virgin wilderness in their dim perspectives.Had he descended, however, and followed one of these diverging...