Classics Books

CHAPTER ONE SOME PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS THE MADDING CROWD Any woman can drive an electric automobile, any man can drive a steam, but neither man nor woman can drive a gasoline; it follows its own odorous will, and goes or goes not as it feels disposed. For this very wilfulness the gasoline motor is the most fascinating machine of all. It possesses the subtle attraction of caprice; it constantly... more...

A PROGRESSIVE BABY. Ober Lahnstein, Jan. 16, 1875. So much, Susie dear, for our small miseries between Blackwall and Rotterdam. Nurse's sickness and the crowd of Cook's tourists (Cook-oos!) aggravated matters; but it is always a tedious bit of way, though I never minded it in my solitary artist days, when either Dresden and happy work or home and happy rest were at end of the hard journey.... more...

THE CHINESE VILLAGE There are in India alone over half a million villages. In all Asia, not improbably, there may be four times that number. By far the larger part of the most numerous people on the globe live in villages. The traveller in the Chinese Empire may start from some seaport, as Tientsin, and journey for several months together in the same general direction, before reaching its frontiers on... more...

CHAPTER I THE COMPLETE HERO Harry Boyce addressed Queen Anne in glittering verse. She was not present. She had, however, no cause to regret that, for he was tramping the Great North Road at four miles by the hour—a pace far beyond the capacity of Her Majesty's legs; and his verses were Latin—a language not within the capacity of Her Majesty's mind. Her absence gave him no grief. In all... more...

Obadiah 1:1 The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord Yahweh says about Edom. We have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, "Arise, and let's rise up against her in battle. 1:2 Behold, I have made you small among the nations. You are greatly despised. 1:3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose... more...

Chapter I. ----"When that's goneHe shall drink naught but brine." Tempest. While there is less of that high polish in America that is obtained by long intercourse with the great world, than is to be found in nearly every European country, there is much less positive rusticity also. There, the extremes of society are widely separated, repelling rather than attracting each other; while among... more...

THE LIFE OF A DIPLOMATIST. This is one of those curious memoirs which, from time to time, start forth from the family archives of public men, for the illustration of the past and the wisdom of the future. Nothing can be more important to either the man of office or the man of reflection. Avoiding all the theoretical portion of history, on which all men may be mistaken, they give us its facts, on which... more...

216 And some of them being teachers have preached and taught purely and sincerely, and have not in the least yielded to any evil, desires, but have constantly walked in righteousness and truth. 217 These therefore have their conversations among the angels. 218 Again; as for what concerns the ninth mountain which is a desert, and full of serpents; they are such as have believed, but had many stains: 219... more...

THE DESIRE OF MADAME "It is the desire of Madame that you should join our circle here on Thursday evening next, at ten o'clock.—Sogrange." The man looked up from the sheet of notepaper which he held in his hand, and gazed through the open French windows before which he was standing. It was a very pleasant and very peaceful prospect. There was his croquet lawn, smooth-shaven, the hoops... more...

Whatever the poets may say, it is incontrovertible that the great majority of men look upon the beauties and glories of Nature that surround them with almost entire indifference. We shall not inquire whether this is the result of a natural incapacity to perceive and admire the beautiful and sublime, or whether it is that their impressions are so deadened by familiarity as to be passed by unnoticed.... more...