Classics Books

CARDINAL DE RICHELIEU. A. D. 1585-1642. ABSOLUTISM. Cardinal de Richelieu is an illustration of what can be done for the prosperity and elevation of a country by a man whom we personally abhor, and whose character is stained by glaring defects and vices. If there was a statesman in French history who was pre-eminently unscrupulous, selfish, tyrannical, and cruel, that statesman was the able and wily... more...

  (1832—1850.)Lewis Carroll's forebears—The Bishop of Elphin—Murder of Captain Dodgson—Daresbury—Living in "Wonderland"—Croft—Boyish amusements—His first school-Latin verses—A good report—He goes to Rugby—The Rectory Umbrella—"A Lay of Sorrow."ARCHDEACON DODGSONAS A YOUNG MANThe Dodgsons appear to have been for a long time connected with the north of... more...

AbecedaryVolatility.AbatinaFickleness.AcaciaFriendship.Acacia, Rose or White    Elegance.Acacia, YellowSecret love.AcanthusThe fine arts. Artifice.AcaliaTemperance.Achillea MillefoliaWar.Aconite (Wolfsbane)Misanthropy.Aconite, CrowfootLustre.Adonis, FlosPainful recollections.African MarigoldVulgar minds.Agnus CastusColdness. Indifference.AgrimonyThankfulness. Gratitude. Almond (Common)Stupidity.... more...

CHAPTER ITHREE BOYS OF CHESTER “No use talking, Toby, there’s something on Jack’s mind of late, and it’s beginning to bother him a lot, I think!” “Well, Steve, you certainly give me the creeps, that’s what you do, with your mysterious hints of all sorts of trouble hanging over our heads, just as they say the famous sword of that old worthy, Damocles, used to hang by a single hair, ready... more...

AT A RAILWAY STATION Seventh day of the sixth Month;— twenty-sixth of Meiji. Yesterday a telegram from Fukuoka announced that a desperate criminal captured there would be brought for trial to Kumamoto to-day, on the train due at noon. A Kumamoto policeman had gone to Fukuoka to take the prisoner in charge. Four years ago a strong thief entered some house by night in the Street of the Wrestlers,... more...

CHAPTER I. In the creation of the world and all that therein is, we should consider it an axiom that “Everything was created for use.” All individual substances, or beings, that come to our notice bear certain relations to one another, have connection one with another, and are dependent upon and useful to each other; and nothing could possibly exist or subsist without this co-relation: connection... more...

TARTARIN ON THE ALPS. I. Apparition on the Rigi-Kulm. Who is it? What was said arounda table of six hundred covers. Rice and Prunes, Animprovised ball. The Unknown signs his name on the hotelregister, P. C. A. On the 10th of August, 1880, at that fabled hour of the setting sun so vaunted by the guide-books Joanne and Baedeker, an hermetic yellow fog, complicated with a flurry of snow in white spirals,... more...

PREFACE. I would ask those readers who have grown up, and who may be disposed to find fault with this book, on the ground that in so many points it is incomplete, or that much is so elementary or well known, to remember that the lectures were meant for juveniles, and for juveniles only. These latter I would urge to do their best to repeat the experiments described. They will find that in many cases no... more...

CHAPTER I. THE GRAND TOUR OF JEAN JACQUES BARBILLE "Peace and plenty, peace and plenty"—that was the phrase M. Jean Jacques Barbille, miller and moneymaster, applied to his home-scene, when he was at the height of his career. Both winter and summer the place had a look of content and comfort, even a kind of opulence. There is nothing like a grove of pines to give a sense of warmth in winter... more...

CHAPTER I MR. WRENN IS LONELY The ticket-taker of the Nickelorion Moving-Picture Show is a public personage, who stands out on Fourteenth Street, New York, wearing a gorgeous light-blue coat of numerous brass buttons. He nods to all the patrons, and his nod is the most cordial in town. Mr. Wrenn used to trot down to Fourteenth Street, passing ever so many other shows, just to get that cordial nod,... more...