The Pension Beaurepasby Henry JamesCHAPTER I.I was not richon the contrary; and I had been told the PensionBeaurepas was cheap. I had, moreover, been told that a boarding-house is a capital place for the study of human nature. I had afancy for a literary career, and a friend of mine had said to me, "Ifyou mean to write you ought to go and live in a boarding-house; thereis no other such place to pick up material." I had read something ofthis kind in a letter addressed by Stendhal to his sister: "I have apassionate desire to know human nature, and have a great mind to livein a boarding-house, where people cannot conceal their realcharacters." I was an admirer of La Chartreuse de Parme, a　

The Man versus the Stateby Herbert Spencer1884PrefaceThe Westminster Review for April 1860, contained an article entitled "Parliamentary Reform: the Dangers and the Safeguards." In that article I ventured to predict some results of political changes then proposed. Reduced to its simplest expression, the thesis maintained was that, unless due precautions were taken, increase of freedom in form would be followed by decrease of freedom in fact. Nothing has occurred to alter the belief I then expressed. The drift of legislation since that time has been of the kind anticipated. Dictatorial measures, rapidly multiplied, have tended continually to narrow the liberties of individuals; and have　

460 BCTHE SEVEN AGAINST THEBESby Aeschylustranslated by E.D.A. MorsheadCHARACTERS IN THE PLAYETEOCLES, son of Oedipus, King of ThebesA SPYCHORUS OF THEBAN WOMENANTIGONEISMENEsisters of ETEOCLESA HERALDSCENE:-Within the Citadel of Thebes. There is an altar with thestatues of several gods visible. A crowd of citizens are presentas ETEOCLES enters with his attendants.)ETEOCLESClansmen of Cadmus, at the signal givenBy time and season must the ruler speak...　

AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THE WEALTH OF NATIONSby Adam Smith1776BOOK THREEOF THE DIFFERENT PROGRESS OF OPULENCE IN DIFFERENT NATIONSOf the Natural Progress of OpulenceTHE great commerce of every civilised society is thatcarried on between the inhabitants of the town and those of thecountry. It consists in the exchange of rude for manufacturedproduce, either immediately, or by the intervention of money, orof some sort of paper which represents money. The countrysupplies the town with the means of subsistence and the materialsof manufacture. The town repays this supply by sending back a...　

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OFBENJAMIN FRANKLININTRODUCTORY NOTEBENJAMIN FRANKLIN was born in Milk Street, Boston, on January6, 1706. His father, Josiah Franklin, was a tallow chandler whomarried twice, and of his seventeen children Benjamin was the youngestson. His schooling ended at ten, and at twelve he was bound apprenticeto his brother James, a printer, who published the "New EnglandCourant." To this journal he became a contributor, and later was fora time its nominal editor. But the brothers quarreled, and Benjaminran away, going first to New York, and thence to Philadelphia, wherehe arrived in October, 1723. He soon obtained work as a printer,...　

The Princeby Nicolo MachiavelliTranslated by W. K. MarriottNicolo Machiavelli, born at Florence on 3rd May 1469. From 1494 to 1512 held an official post at Florence which included diplomatic missions to various European courts. Imprisoned in Florence, 1512; later exiled and returned to San Casciano. Died at Florence on 22nd June 1527.INTRODUCTIONNicolo Machiavelli was born at Florence on 3rd May 1469. He was the second son of Bernardo di Nicolo Machiavelli, a lawyer of some repute, and of Bartolommea di Stefano Nelli, his wife. Both parents were members of the old Florentine nobility.His life falls naturally into three periods, each of which singularly enough constitutes a distinct and impo　

THE HISTORY OF HERODOTUSby Herodotustranslated by George RawlinsonThe First Book, EntitledCLIOTHESE are the researches of Herodotus of Halicarnassus, which he publishes, in the hope of thereby preserving from decay the remembrance of what men have done, and of preventing the great and wonderful actions of the Greeks and the Barbarians from losing their due meed of glory; and withal to put on record what were their grounds of feuds. According to the Persians best informed in history, the Phoenicians began to quarrel. This people, who had formerly dwelt on the shores of the Erythraean Sea, having migrated to the Mediterranean and settled in the parts which they now inhabit, began at once,　

We Twoby Edna LyallCHAPTER I. Brian Falls in LoveStill humanity grows dearer, Being learned the more. Jean Ingelow.There are three things in this world which deserve no quarter Hypocrisy, Pharisaism, and Tyranny. F. RobertsonPeople who have been brought up in the country, or in small places where every neighbor is known by sight, are apt to think that life in a large town must lack many of the interests which they have learned to find in their more limited communities. In a somewhat bewildered way, they gaze at the shifting crowd of strange faces, and wonder whether it would be possible to feel completely at home where all the surroundings of life seem ever changing and unfamiliar....　

From This World to the Nextby Henry FieldingINTRODUCTIONBOOK ICHAPTER I.The author dies, meets with Mercury, and is by him conducted tothe stage which sets out for the other worldCHAPTER II.In which the author first refutes some idle opinions concerningspirits, and then the passengers relate their several deaths .CHAPTER III.The adventures we met with in the City of DiseasesCHAPTER IV.Discourses on the road, and a description of the palace of DeathCHAPTER V.The travelers proceed on their journey, and meet several spiritswho are coming into the flesh...　

The Fatal Bootsby William Makepeace ThackerayJanuary.The Birth of the YearFebruary.Cutting WeatherMarch.ShoweryApril.FoolingMay.Restoration DayJune.Marrowbones and CleaversJuly.Summary ProceedingsAugust.Dogs have their DaysSeptember.Plucking a GooseOctober.Mars and Venus in OppositionNovember.A General Post DeliveryDecember."The Winter of Our Discontent"THE FATAL BOOTSJANUARY.THE BIRTH OF THE YEAR.Some poet has observed, that if any man would write down what hasreally happened to him in this mortal life, he would be sure tomake a good book, though he never had met with a single adventure...　

BluebeardA Musical Fantasyby Kate Douglas WigginDedication: To my friend Walter DamroschMaster of the art form so irreverently treated in these pages.Kate Douglas WigginPREFACEMore than a dozen years ago musical scholars and critics began toilluminate the musical darkness of New York with lecture-recitalsexplanatory of the more abstruse German operas. Previous to this era no onehad ever thought, for instance, of unfolding the story, or the "_Leit__motive_" (if there happened to be any!), in "The Bohemian Girl,""Maritana," or "Martha." These and many other delightful but thoroughlythird-class works unfolded themselves as they went along, to the entire...　

THE NIXY[15][15] From the German. Kletke.There was once upon a time a miller who was very well off, andhad as much money and as many goods as he knew what to do with.But sorrow comes in the night, and the miller all of a suddenbecame so poor that at last he could hardly call the mill inwhich he sat his own. He wandered about all day full of despairand misery, and when he lay down at night he could get no rest,but lay awake all night sunk in sorrowful thoughts.One morning he rose up before dawn and went outside, for hethought his heart would be lighter in the open air. As hewandered up and down on the banks of the mill-pond he heard a...