Beacon Lights of HistoryVolume III Part 2by John LordVolume III.Part IIRenaissance and Reformation.CONTENTS.DANTE.RISE OF MODERN POETRY.The antiquity of PoetryThe greatness of PoetsTheir influence on CivilizationThe true poet one of the rarest of menThe pre-eminence of Homer, Dante, Shakspeare, and GoetheCharacteristics of DanteHis precocityHis moral wisdom and great attainmentsHis terrible scorn and his isolationState of society when Dante was bornHis banishmentGuelphs and GhibellinesDante stimulated to his great task by an absorbing sentimentBeatrice...　

Miss Billyby Eleanor H. PorterCONTENTSCHAPTERI. BILLY WRITES A LETTERII. "THE STRATA"III. THE STRATAWHEN THE LETTER COMESIV. BILLY SENDS A TELEGRAMV. GETTING READY FOR BILLYVI. THE COMING OF BILLYVII. INTRODUCING SPUNKVIII. THE ROOMAND BILLYIX. A FAMILY CONCLAVEX. AUNT HANNAHXI. BERTRAM HAS VISITORSXII. CYRIL TAKES HIS TURNXIII. A SURPRISE ALL AROUNDXIV. AUNT HANNAH SPEAKS HER MINDXV. WHAT BERTRAM CALLS "THE LIMIT"XVI. KATE TAKES A HANDXVII. A PINK-RIBBON TRAILXVIII. BILLY WRITES ANOTHER LETTERXIX. SEEING BILLY OFFXX. BILLY, THE MYTHXXI. BILLY, THE REALITY...　

Lecture IIIKinship as the Basis of SocietyThe most recent researches into the primitive history ofsociety point to the conclusion that the earliest tie whichknitted men together in communities was Consanguinity or Kinship.The subject has been approached of late years from severaldifferent sides, and there has been much dispute as to what theprimitive blood-relationship implied, and how it arose; but therehas been general agreement as to the fact I have stated. Thecaution is perhaps needed that we must not form too loose a...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE LAST DREAM OF THE OLD OAKby Hans Christian AndersenIN the forest, high up on the steep shore, and not far from theopen seacoast, stood a very old oak-tree. It was just three hundredand sixty-five years old, but that long time was to the tree as thesame number of days might be to us; we wake by day and sleep by night,and then we have our dreams. It is different with the tree; it isobliged to keep awake through three seasons of the year, and doesnot get any sleep till winter comes. Winter is its time for rest;its night after the long day of spring, summer, and autumn. On many...　

380 BCPROTAGORASby Platotranslated by Benjamin JowettPROTAGORASPERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE: SOCRATES, who is the narrator of theDialogue to his Companion; HIPPOCRATES; ALCIBIADES; CRINAS;PROTAGORAS, HIPPIAS, PRODICUS, Sophists; CALLIAS, a wealthyAthenian. Scene: The House of CalliasCom. Where do you come from, Socrates? And yet I need hardly ask thequestion, for I know that you have been in chase of the fairAlcibiades. I saw the day before yesterday; and he had got a beard...　

Modern Customs and Ancient Laws of Russiaby Maxime KovalevskyLecture IIThe State of the Modern Russian Family, and Particularly that ofthe Joint or Household Community of Great RussiaWe believe that the theory of the matriarchate finds a solidbasis in the past history of the Russian family. The presentcondition of the latter seems to prove that the next stage in itsevolution was the household community, composed of persons unitedby descent from a common forefather and accompanied by thatworship of ancestors which usually resulted from it. The completesubjection of the wife to the husband, and of the children to thefather; community of goods and the common enjoyment of their...　

NOTES BY FLOOD AND FIELDPART IIN THE FIELDIt was near the close of an October day that I began to bedisagreeably conscious of the Sacramento Valley. I had been ridingsince sunrise, and my course through the depressing monotony of thelong level landscape affected me more like a dull dyspeptic dreamthan a business journey, performed under that sincerest of naturalphenomenaa California sky. The recurring stretches of brown andbaked fields, the gaping fissures in the dusty trail, the hardoutline of the distant hills, and the herds of slowly movingcattle, seemed like features of some glittering stereoscopicpicture that never changed. Active exercise might have removed...　

FABIUS270-203 B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenHAVING related the memorable actions of Pericles, our history nowproceeds to the life of Fabius. A son of Hercules and a nymph, of somewoman of that country, who brought him forth on the banks of Tiber,was, it is said, the first Fabius, the founder of the numerous anddistinguished family of the name. Others will have it that they werefirst called Fodii, because the first of the race delighted in diggingpitfalls for wild beasts, fodere being still the Latin for to dig, andfossa for a ditch, and that in process of time, by the change of the...　

The Song of the Cardinalby Gene Stratton-PorterIN LOVING TRIBUTETO THE MEMORY OF MY FATHERMARK STRATTON"For him every work of God manifested a new and heretoforeunappreciated loveliness."Chapter 1"Good cheer! Good cheer!" exulted the CardinalHe darted through the orange orchard searching for slugs for hisbreakfast, and between whiles he rocked on the branches and rangover his message of encouragement to men. The song of theCardinal was overflowing with joy, for this was his holiday, hisplaytime. The southern world was filled with brilliant sunshine,...　

AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THE WEALTH OF NATIONSby Adam Smith1776BOOK FOUROF SYSTEMS OF POLITICAL ECONOMYINTRODUCTIONPOLITICAL economy, considered as a branch of the science of astatesman or legislator, proposes two distinct objects: first, toprovide a plentiful revenue or subsistence for the people, ormore properly to enable them to provide such a revenue orsubsistence for themselves; and secondly, to supply the state orcommonwealth with a revenue sufficient for the public services.It proposes to enrich both the people and the sovereign....　

Lachesby PlatoTranslated by Benjamin JowettINTRODUCTION.Lysimachus, the son of Aristides the Just, and Melesias, the son of theelder Thucydides, two aged men who live together, are desirous of educatingtheir sons in the best manner. Their own education, as often happens withthe sons of great men, has been neglected; and they are resolved that theirchildren shall have more care taken of them, than they received themselvesat the hands of their fathers.At their request, Nicias and Laches have accompanied them to see a mannamed Stesilaus fighting in heavy armour. The two fathers ask the two...　

The Tale of Balenby Algernon Charles SwinburneDEDICATIONTO MY MOTHERLove that holds life and death in fee,Deep as the clear unsounded seaAnd sweet as life or death can be,Lays here my hope, my heart, and meBefore you, silent, in a song.Since the old wild tale, made new, found grace,When half sung through, before your face,It needs must live a springtide space,While April suns grow strong.March 24, 1896.THE TALE OF BALENIn hawthorn-time the heart grows light,The world is sweet in sound and sight,Glad thoughts and birds take flower and flight,The heather kindles toward the light,The whin is frankincense and flame.And be it for strife or be it for love...