The Lily of the Valleyby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Katharine Prescott WormeleyDEDICATIONTo Monsieur J. B. Nacquart,Member of the Royal Academy of Medicine.Dear DoctorHere is one of the most carefully hewn stones in thesecond course of the foundation of a literary edifice which I haveslowly and laboriously constructed. I wish to inscribe your nameupon it, as much to thank the man whose science once saved me asto honor the friend of my daily life.De Balzac.THE LILY OF THE VALLEYENVOIFelix de Vandenesse to Madame la Comtesse Natalie de Manerville:...　

10,000 Dreams Interpretedby Gustavus Hindman Miller``In a dream, in a vision of the night, whendeep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings uponthe bed; then he openeth the ears of men andsealeth their instruction that he may withdrawman from his purpose, and hide pride from man.'Job xxxiii., 15.PREFACE.``Dreams are rudiments of the great state to come.We dream what is about to happen.'BAILEY,The Bible, as well as other great books of historical andrevealed religion, shows traces of a general and substantialbelief in dreams. Plato, Goethe, Shakespeare and Napoleonassigned to certain dreams prophetic value. Joseph saw...　

POMPEY106-48 B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenTHE people of Rome seem to have entertained for Pompey from hischildhood the same affection that Prometheus, in the tragedy ofAeschylus, expresses for Hercules, speaking of him as the author ofhis deliverance, in these words:-"Ah cruel Sire! how dear thy son to me!The generous offspring of my enemy!"For on the one hand, never did the Romans give such demonstrationsof a vehement and fierce hatred against any of their generals asthey did against Strabo, the father of Pompey; during whose...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE LAST PEARLby Hans Christian AndersenWE are in a rich, happy house, where the master, the servants, thefriends of the family are full of joy and felicity. For on this daya son and heir has been born, and mother and child are doing well. Thelamp in the bed-chamber had been partly shaded, and the windows werecovered with heavy curtains of some costly silken material. The carpetwas thick and soft, like a covering of moss. Everything invited toslumber, everything had a charming look of repose; and so the nursehad discovered, for she slept; and well she might sleep, while...　

The Diary of a Goose Girlby Kate Douglas WigginTHORNYCROFT FARM, near Barbury Green, July 1, 190-.In alluding to myself as a Goose Girl, I am using only the mostmodest of my titles; for I am also a poultry-maid, a tender ofBelgian hares and rabbits, and a shepherdess; but I particularlyfancy the role of Goose Girl, because it recalls the German fairytales of my early youth, when I always yearned, but never hoped, tobe precisely what I now am.As I was jolting along these charming Sussex roads the other day, afat buff pony and a tippy cart being my manner of progression, Ichanced upon the village of Barbury Green.One glance was enough for any woman, who, having eyes to see, could...　

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...　

CORIOLANUSLegendary, 5th Century B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenTHE patrician house of the Marcii in Rome produced many men ofdistinction, and among the rest, Ancus Marcius, grandson to Numa byhis daughter, and king after Tullus Hostilius; of the same family werealso Publius and Quintus Marcius, which two conveyed into the city thebest and most abundant supply of water they have at Rome. Aslikewise Censorinus, who, having been twice chosen censor by thepeople, afterwards himself induced them to make a law that nobodyshould bear that office twice. But Caius Marcius, of whom I now write,...　

"THE SPIRIT OF 1776"_To Thomas Lomax__Monticello, Mar. 12, 1799_DEAR SIR, Your welcome favor of last month came to my handsin Philadelphia. So long a time has elapsed since we have beenseparated by events, that it was like a letter from the dead, andrecalled to my memory very dear recollections. My subsequent journeythrough life has offered nothing which, in comparison with those, isnot cheerless & dreary. It is a rich comfort sometimes to look backon them.I take the liberty of enclosing a letter to mr. Baylor, open,because I solicit your perusal of it. It will, at the same time,...　

Dear Enemyby Jean WebsterSTONE GATE, WORCESTER,MASSACHUSETTS,December 27.Dear Judy:Your letter is here. I have read it twice, and with amazement. Do I understand that Jervis has given you, for a Christmas present, the making over of the John Grier Home into a model institution, and that you have chosen me to disburse the money? MeI, Sallie McBride, the head of an orphan asylum! My poor people, have you lost your senses, or have you become addicted to the use of opium, and is this the raving of two fevered imaginations? I am exactly as well fitted to take care of one hundred children as to become the curator of a zoo....　

Letters to His Son, 1748by Lord ChesterfieldLETTERS TO HIS SONBy the EARL OF CHESTERFIELDon the Fine Art of becoming aMAN OF THE WORLDand aGENTLEMANLETTER XXIVJanuary 2, O. S. 1748.DEAR BOY: I am edified with the allotment of your time at Leipsig; which is so well employed from morning till night, that a fool would say you had none left for yourself; whereas, I am sure you have sense enough to know, that such a right use of your time is having it all to yourself; nay, it is even more, for it is laying it out to immense interest, which, in a very few years, will amount to a prodigious capital....　

LYCURGUSLegendary, 9th Century B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenThere is so much uncertainty in the accounts which historians haveleft us of Lycurgus, the lawgiver of Sparta, that scarcely anything isasserted by one of them which is not called into question orcontradicted by the rest. Their sentiments are quite different as tothe family he came of, the voyages he undertook, the place andmanner of his death, but most of all when they speak of the laws hemade and the commonwealth which he founded. They cannot, by any means,be brought to an agreement as to the very age in which he lived; for...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE PORTUGUESE DUCKby Hans Christian AndersenA DUCK once arrived from Portugal, but there were some who saidshe came from Spain, which is almost the same thing. At all events,she was called the "Portuguese," and she laid eggs, was killed, andcooked, and there was an end of her. But the ducklings which creptforth from the eggs were also called "Portuguese," and about thatthere may be some question. But of all the family one only remained inthe duckyard, which may be called a farmyard, as the chickens wereadmitted, and the cock strutted about in a very hostile manner. "He...