THE SKETCH BOOKTHE STAGE COACHby Washington IrvingOmne beneSine poenaTempus est ludendi.Venit horaAbsque moraLibros deponendi.OLD HOLIDAY SCHOOL SONG.IN THE preceding paper I have made some general observations onthe Christmas festivities of England, and am tempted to illustratethem by some anecdotes of a Christmas passed in the country; inperusing which I would most courteously invite my reader to lay...　

APPENDIX TO INTRODUCTION (1829), p. 　

TWICE-TOLD TALESTHE AMBITIOUS GUESTby Nathaniel HawthorneONE SEPTEMBER NIGHT a family had gathered round their hearth, andpiled it high with the driftwood of mountain streams, the dry cones ofthe pine, and the splintered ruins of great trees that had comecrashing down the precipice. Up the chimney roared the fire, andbrightened the room with its broad blaze. The faces of the fatherand mother had a sober gladness; the children laughed; the eldestdaughter was the image of Happiness at seventeen; and the agedgrandmother, who sat knitting in the warmest place, was the image of...　

AGNES GREYAGNES GREYBy Anne Bronte1- Page 2-AGNES GREYCHAPTER I - THE PARSONAGEALL true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasuremay be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity, that the dry,shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut.Whether this be the case with my history or not, I am hardly competent tojudge. I sometimes think it might prove useful to some, and entertainingto others; but the world may judge for itself. Shielded by my own...　

The Ways of Menby Eliot GregoryChapter 1 - "UNCLE SAM"THE gentleman who graced the gubernatorial arm-chair of our state when this century was born happened to be an admirer of classic lore and the sonorous names of antiquity.It is owing to his weakness in bestowing pompous cognomens on our embryo towns and villages that to-day names like Utica, Syracuse, and Ithaca, instead of evoking visions of historic pomp and circumstance, raise in the minds of most Americans the picture of cocky little cities, rich only in trolley-cars and Methodist meeting-houses.When, however, this cultured governor, in his ardor, christened one of the cities Troy, and the hill in its vicinity Mount Ida, he 　

RUSSIA IN 1919RUSSIA IN 1919ARTHUR RANSOME- Page 2-RUSSIA IN 1919INTRODUCTIONI am well aware that there is material in this book which will bemisused by fools both white and red. That is not my fault. My objecthas been narrowly limited. I have tried by means of a bald record ofconversations and things seen, to provide material for those who wish toknow what is being done and thought in Moscow at the present time, anddemand something more to go upon than secondhand reports of wholly...　

Tartuffe or the Hypocriteby Jean Baptiste Poquelin MoliereTranslated by Curtis Hidden PageINTRODUCTORY NOTEJean Baptiste Poquelin, better known by his stage name of Moliere,stands without a rival at the head of French comedy. Born at Paris inJanuary, 1622, where his father held a position in the royalhousehold, he was educated at the Jesuit College de Clermont, and forsome time studied law, which he soon abandoned for the stage. His lifewas spent in Paris and in the provinces, acting, directingperformances, managing theaters, and writing plays. He had his shareof applause from the king and from the public; but the satire in hiscomedies made him many enemies, and he was the object of the mos　

DEMETRIUS337?-283 B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenINGENIOUS men have long observed a resemblance between the arts and the bodily senses. And they were first led to do so, I think, by noticing the way in which, both in the arts and with our senses, we examine opposites. Judgment once obtained, the use to which we put it differs in the two cases. Our senses are not meant to pick out black rather than white, to prefer sweet to bitter, or soft and yielding to hard and resisting objects; all they have to do is to receive impressions as they occur, and report to the understanding the impressions as received. The arts, on the other hand, which reason inst　

The Lesson of the Masterby Henry JamesHe had been told the ladies were at church, but this was correctedby what he saw from the top of the steps - they descended from agreat height in two arms, with a circular sweep of the mostcharming effect - at the threshold of the door which, from the longbright gallery, overlooked the immense lawn. Three gentlemen, onthe grass, at a distance, sat under the great trees, while thefourth figure showed a crimson dress that told as a "bit of colour"amid the fresh rich green. The servant had so far accompanied PaulOvert as to introduce him to this view, after asking him if hewished first to go to his room. The young man declined that...　

The Life and Adventures of Baron Trenck - Volume 2by Baron TrenckTranslator: Thomas HolcroftINTRODUCTION.Thomas Holcroft, the translator of these Memoirs of Baron Trenck, was the author of about thirty plays, among which one, The Road to Ruin, produced in 1792, has kept its place upon the stage. He was born in December, 1745, the son of a shoemaker who did also a little business in horse-dealing. After early struggles, during which he contrived to learn French, German, and Italian, Holcroft contributed to a newspaper, turned actor, and wrote plays, which appeared between the years 1791 and 1806. He produced also four novels, the first in 1780, the last in 1807. He was three times marri　

The History of the Telephoneby Herbert N. CassonPREFACEThirty-five short years, and presto! the newborn art of telephony is fullgrown. Three million telephones are now scattered abroad in foreign countries, and seven millions are massed here, in the land of its birth.So entirely has the telephone outgrown the ridicule with which, as many people can well remember, it was first received, that it is now in most places taken for granted, as though it were a part of the natural phenomena of this planet. It has so marvellously extended the facilities of conversationthat "art in which a man has all mankind for competitors"that it is now an indispensable help to whoever would live the convenient li　

Tales for Fifteen: or, Imagination and Heartby James Fenimore Cooper (writing under thepseudonym of "Jane Morgan")NEW-YORKC. WILEY, 3 WALL STREETJ. Seymour, printer1823Southern District of New-York ss.BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the thirteenth day ofJune, in the forty-seventh year of the Independenceof the United States of America, Charles Wiley, ofthe said District, hath deposited in this office thetitle of a Book, the right whereof he claims asproprietor, in the words and figures following, towit:"Tales for Fifteen; or Imagination and Heart.By Jane Morgan."In conformity with the Act of Congress of theUnited States entitled, "An Act for the...