Classics Books

PREFACE. In these days when books on every conceivable subject are written in their thousands annually; when monthly journals are produced by scores, and daily newspapers in hundreds, to supply the public with a record of the world's doings; and when readers are found for them all, it may not be thought unfitting that each large mail centre in the United Kingdom which contributes by its postal and... more...

"Q." A year or two ago it was observed that three writers were using the curiously popular signature "Q." This was hardly less confusing than that one writer should use three signatures (Grant Allen, Arbuthnot Wilson, and Anon), but as none of the three was willing to try another letter, they had to leave it to the public (whose decision in such matters is final) to say who is Q to it.... more...

THE STORY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON * * * * * I.—WHEN WASHINGTON WAS A BOY. When George Washington was a boy there was no United States. The land was here, just as it is now, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific; but nearly all of it was wild and unknown. Between the Atlantic Ocean and the Alleghany Mountains there were thirteen colonies, or great settlements. The most of the people who lived... more...

CHAPTER I THE BEAUTIFUL JAILER OF GUDENFELS The aged Emir Soldan sat in his tent and smiled; the crafty Oriental smile of an experienced man, deeply grounded in the wisdom of this world. He knew that there was incipient rebellion in his camp; that the young commanders under him thought their leader was becoming too old for the fray; caution overmastering courage. Here were these dogs of unbelievers... more...

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY—HISTORICAL The milk industry is one of the oldest known to mankind, and it is difficult to imagine a time when milk in one way or another did not form a part of the diet of the human race. There is a good deal of evidence to show that in Paleolithic and Neolithic times, cattle were part of the possessions of the nomadic races; and, according to the Vedas, the manufacture of... more...

'The ancient duke Than-fû' was the grandfather of king Wan, and was canonized by the duke of Kâu as 'king Thâi.' As mentioned in a note on p. 316, he was the first of his family to settle in Kâu, removing there from Pin. the site of their earlier settlement, 'the country about the Khü and the Khî.' In long trains ever increasing grow the gourds[2]. When (our) people... more...

THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION. There is one man in the political history of the United States whom Daniel Webster regarded as his intellectual superior. And this man was Alexander Hamilton; not so great a lawyer or orator as Webster, not so broad and experienced a statesman, but a more original genius, who gave shape to existing political institutions. And he rendered transcendent services at a great... more...

Thou shalt not steal. What is meant by this commandment? We should so fear and love God as not to rob our neighbor of his money or property, nor bring it into our possession by unfair dealing or fraudulent means, but rather assist him to improve and protect it. The object of this commandment is to protect every man in the possession of that which is lawfully his own. Without such protection the... more...

Hector Macintosh was a young man about five-and-twenty, who, with the proclivities of the Celt, inherited also some of the consequent disabilities, as well as some that were accidental. Among the rest was a strong tendency to regard only the ideal, and turn away from any authority derived from an inferior source. His chief delight lay in the attempt to embody, in what seemed to him the natural form of... more...

CHAPTER I AT A HIGH SCHOOL. When Mercy was able to go down to the drawing-room, she found the evenings pass as never evenings passed before; and during the day, although her mother and Christina came often to see her, she had time and quiet for thinking. And think she must; for she found herself in a region of human life so different from any she had hitherto entered, that in no other circumstances... more...