Book of the Day -- from the Full Text Archive

The Life of Henry VIII by William Shakespeare [Dunlap edition]

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:12 PDT

KING HENRY THE EIGHTH
CARDINAL WOLSEY
CARDINAL CAMPEIUS
CAPUCIUS, Ambassador from the Emperor Charles V
CRANMER, archbishop of Canterbury
DUKE OF NORFOLK
DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM
DUKE OF SUFFOLK
EARL OF SURREY
LORD CHAMBERLAIN
LORD CHANCELLOR
GARDINER, bishop of Winchester
BISHOP OF LINCOLN
LORD ABERGAVENNY
LORD SANDYS (called also SIR WILLIAM SANDYS)
SIR HENRY GUILDFORD
SIR THOMAS LOVELL
SIR ANTHONY DENNY
SIR NICHOLAS VAUX
Secretaries to Wolsey
CROMWELL, servant to Wolsey
GRIFFITH, gentleman usher to Queen Katherine

Three Gentlemen
DOCTOR BUTTS, physician to the King
Garter King-at-Arms
Surveyor to the Duke of Buckingham
BRANDON, and a Sergeant-at-Arms
Door-keeper of the Council-chamber
Porter, and his Man
Page to Gardiner
A Crier

QUEEN KATHERINE, wife to King Henry, afterwards divor…

Original article: The Life of Henry VIII by William Shakespeare [Dunlap edition]

The Evolution Of Man Scientifically Disproved by William A. Williams

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:14 PDT

Let it be understood, at the outset, that every proved theory of
science is to be accepted. Only the most intense prejudice and the
maddest folly would lead any one to reject the proved conclusions of
science. Moreover, we should examine any new hypothesis with open
minds, to see if it has in it anything truthful, helpful or
advantageous. It should neither be accepted nor rejected simply
because it is new. But if a theory is evidently or probably untrue, or
pernicious, or at all harmful, it is to be rejected and condemned.

Some facts and objections are herein submitted to the serious seeker
after truth, in the hope that a theory so out of harmony with the
facts, and so destructive to the faith and the cherished hopes of man,
may be completely discarded. As Evolution can not stand the acid test
of mathematics, it will be repudiated by all.

We shall discuss the theory upon its merits, from a scientific
standpoint, and will also demand an explanation …

Original article: The Evolution Of Man Scientifically Disproved by William A. Williams

Fifteen Years in Hell by Luther Benson

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:13 PDT

Early shadows--An unmerciful enemy--The miseries of the curse--Sorrow
and gloom--What alcohol robs man of--What it does--What it does not
do--Surrounding evils--Blighted homes--A Titan devil--The utterness of the
destroyer--A truthful narrative--"It stingeth like an adder."

CHAPTER II.

Birth, parentage and early education--Early childhood--Early events--Memory
of them vivid--Bitter desolation--An active but uneasy life--Breaking colts
for amusement--Amount of sleep--Temperament has much to do in the matter of
drink--The author to blame for his misspent life--Inheritances--The
excellences of my father and mother--The road to ruin not wilfully
trodden--The people's indifference to a great danger--My associates--What
became of them--The customs of twenty years ago--What might have been.

CHAPTER III.

The old log school house--My studies …

Original article: Fifteen Years in Hell by Luther Benson

Barford Abbey by Susannah Minific Gunning

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:15 PDT

How distressing, how heart-rending, is my dear Fanny's mournful
detail!--It lies before me; I weep over it!--I weep not for the departed
saint: no; it is for you, myself, for all who have experienced her
god-like virtues!--Was she not an honour to her sex? Did she not merit
rewards too great for this world to bestow?--Could the world repay her
innocence, her piety, her resignation? Wipe away, my best love, the mark
of sorrow from your cheek. Perhaps she may be permitted to look down: if
so, will she smile on those that grieve at her entering into the
fullness of joy?--Here a sudden death cannot be called dreadful. A life
like hers wanted not the admonitions of a sick-bed;--her bosom accounts
always clear, always ready for inspection, day by day were they held up
to the throne of mercy.--Apply those beautiful lines in the Spectator to
her; lines you have so often admir'd.--How silent thy passage; how
private thy journey; how glorious thy end! Many have I known more
famous, some more knowing, not one so innocent.--Hope is a noble support
to the drooping head of sorrow.--Though a de…

Original article: Barford Abbey by Susannah Minific Gunning

Life On The Mississippi, Complete by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:11 PDT

BUT the basin of the Mississippi is the BODY OF THE NATION. All the
other parts are but members, important in themselves, yet more important
in their relations to this. Exclusive of the Lake basin and of 300,000
square miles in Texas and New Mexico, which in many aspects form a part
of it, this basin contains about 1,250,000 square miles. In extent it
is the second great valley of the world, being exceeded only by that of
the Amazon. The valley of the frozen Obi approaches it in extent; that
of La Plata comes next in space, and probably in habitable capacity,
having about eight-ninths of its area; then comes that of the Yenisei,
with about seven-ninths; the Lena, Amoor, Hoang-ho, Yang-tse-kiang, and
Nile, five-ninths; the Ganges, less than one-half; the Indus, less than
one-third; the Euphrates, one-fifth; the Rhine, one-fifteenth. It
exceeds in extent the whole of Europe, exclusive of Russia, Norway, and
Sweden. IT WOULD CONTAIN AUSTRIA FOUR TIMES, GERMANY OR SPAIN FIVE
TIMES, FRANCE SIX TIMES, THE BRITISH ISLANDS OR ITALY TEN TIMES.
Conceptions formed from the river-basins of Weste…

Original article: Life On The Mississippi, Complete by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

Samantha at the St. Louis Exposition by Marietta Holley

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:15 PDT

I had noticed for some time that Josiah Allen had acted queer. He would
seem lost in thought anon or oftener, and then seemin'ly roust himself
up and try to act natural.

And anon he would drag his old tin chest out from under the back
stairway and pour over musty old deeds and papers, drawed up by his
great-grandpa mebby.

He did this last act so often that I said to him one day, "What under
the sun do you find in them yeller old papers to attract you so,
Josiah?"

But he looked queer at me, queer as a dog, as if he wuz lookin' through
me to some distant view that interested him dretfully, and answered
evasive, and mebby he wouldn't answer at all.

And then I'd see him and Uncle Sime Bentley, his particular chum, with
their heads clost together, seemin'ly plottin' sunthin' or ruther,
though what it wuz I couldn't imagine.

Original article: Samantha at the St. Louis Exposition by Marietta Holley

Letters of Horace Walpole by Horace Walpole

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:11 PDT

4. TO WEST, _April_ 21, 1739.--Theatres at Paris--St. Denis--Fondness of
the French for Show, and for Gambling--Singular Signs--The Army the only
Profession for Men of Gentle Birth--Splendour of the Public Buildings

5. TO THE SAME, 1739.--Magnificence of Versailles--The Chartreux Relics

6. TO THE SAME, _February_ 27, 1740.--The Carnival--The Florentines
Civil, Good-natured, and Fond of the English--A Curious Challenge

7. TO THE SAME, _June_ 14, 1740.--Herculaneum--Search should be made for
other Submerged Cities--Quotations from Statius

8. TO CONWAY, _July_ 5, 1740.--Danger of Malaria--Roman Catholic
Relics--"Admiral Hosier's Ghost"--Contest for the Popedom

9. TO THE SAME, _July_ 9, 1740

10. TO WEST, _Oct._ 2, 174…

Original article: Letters of Horace Walpole by Horace Walpole

Hassan: The Story of Hassan of Baghdad and How He Came to by James Elroy Flecker

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:13 PDT

An AMBASSADOR, a WRESTLER, a CALLIGRAPHIST, a JESTER, GHOSTS,
MUTES, DANCING WOMEN, BEGGARS, SOLDIERS, POLICE, ATTENDANTS
and CASUAL LOITERERS

THE STORY OF HASSAN OF BAGDAD

ACT I

SCENE I

A room "behind the shop" in Old Bagdad. In the background a large
caldron steaming, for the shop is a sweet-stuff shop and the sugar
is boiling. The room has little furniture beyond the carpet,
old but unexpectedly choice, and some Persian hangings (geometrical
designs, with crude animals and some verses from the Koran
hand-printed on linen). A ramshackle wooden partition in one
corner shuts off from a living room what appears to be the shop.

Squatting on the carpet--facing each other:

HASSAN…

Original article: Hassan: The Story of Hassan of Baghdad and How He Came to by James Elroy Flecker

Tenterhooks by Ada Leverson

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:15 PDT

Because Edith had not been feeling very well, that seemed no reason why
she should be the centre of interest; and Bruce, with that jealousy of
the privileges of the invalid and in that curious spirit of rivalry
which his wife had so often observed, had started, with enterprise, an
indisposition of his own, as if to divert public attention. While he
was at Carlsbad he heard the news. Then he received a letter from
Edith, speaking with deference and solicitude of Bruce's rheumatism,
entreating him to do the cure thoroughly, and suggesting that they
should call the little girl Matilda, after a rich and sainted--though
still living--aunt of Edith's. It might be an advantage to the child's
future (in every sense) to have a godmother so wealthy and so
religious. It appeared from the detailed description that the new
daughter had, as a matter of course (and at two days old), long golden
hair, far below her waist, sweeping lashes and pencilled brows, a
rosebud mouth, an intellectual forehead, chiselled features and a tall,
elegant figure. She was a magnificent, regal-looking creature and was a…

Original article: Tenterhooks by Ada Leverson

Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin by Robert Louis Stevenson

Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:18 PDT

Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin by Robert Louis Stevenson
Scanned and proofed by David Price
ccx074@coventry.ac.uk

Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin

PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.

ON the death of Fleeming Jenkin, his family and friends determined
to publish a selection of his various papers; by way of
introduction, the following pages were drawn up; and the whole,
forming two considerable volumes, has been issued in England. In
the States, it has not been thought advisable to reproduce the
whole; and the memoir appearing alone, shorn of that other matter
which was at once its occasion and its justification, so large an
account of a man so little known may seem to a stranger out of all
proportion. But Jenkin was a man much more remarkable than the
mere bulk or merit of his work approves him. It was in the world,
in the commerce of friendship, by…

Original article: Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin by Robert Louis Stevenson