OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# The Works of Dionysius the Areopagite/Letters/Preface

THESE Letters attest the existence of the writings, and the wisdom spoken among the perfect, in the Apostolic Age.—To Gaius, who is commemorated by St. John and St. Paul, we owe the explanation of Agnosia, and valued teaching on the Personality of our Lord; to Dorotheus we are indebted for a fuller explanation of the Divine Gloom; to Sosipater, twice mentioned in the Acts and Romans, we owe the wisest letter ever penned for the instruction of the Christian Apologist and Missionary. The Letter to Polycarp touches on those mysterious signs in the heavens, by which Almighty God shewed His universal power. Dionysius shews his reverence for God’s holy word, by never seeking to explain away, or to substitute what seems a less miracle for a greater. The trifold Mithra commemorated amongst the Babylonians shews that Hezekiah’s sign was not merely visible and observed in Judea. The King, as High Priest of his people, was already robed for evening prayer, when he observed the sun gone back; and one day became almost three, i.e. thirty-two hours instead of thirty-six. Dionysius describes the darkness at the time of the Crucifixion, as it appeared in Egypt, and is recorded by Phlegon. We do not explain and interpret the facts recorded in the Gospel, by denying them, or by treating the same testimony outside the Gospel as superstitious.
To Demophilus, we owe a knowledge of Church-law and order, which teaches the Christian duty of being “sent,” and which should teach clergy to obey their Bishop, and not merely the Act of uniformity. To Titus, we owe the preservation of the sum of the Symbolic Theology. From the letter to St. John in Patmos, we learn the love between St. John arid Dionysius, and that St. John was then Called the “Sun of the Gospel.” From the letter to Apollophanes, we know that the prayers of Dionysius for the conversion of his friend did not fall to the ground. Apollophanes was tutor to Polemon, who again was tutor to Aristides, who presented his “Apology” to the Emperor Hadrian. The conversion of Statonice, the wife of Apollophanes, was the cause of St. Paul’s being cast into chains at Philippi, where the messengers from Corinth found him, through whom he sent the Epistle recently brought to light. CANNES, Circumcision, 1897.

## Footnotes

* ↑ See "Correspondence" of St, Paul," Carrière et Berger, p. 20. Fishbacher, Paris.
# The Works of Dionysius the Areopagite/Letters/Letter X

To John, Theologos, Apostle and Evangelist, imprisoned in the Isle of Patmos.
I salute thee, the holy soul! O beloved one! and this for me is more appropriate than for most. Hail! O truly beloved! And to the truly Loveable and Desired, very beloved! Why should it be a marvel, if Christ speaks truly, and the unjust banish His disciples from their cities, themselves bringing upon themselves their due, and the accursed severing themselves, and departing from the holy. Truly things seen are manifest images of things unseen. For, neither in the ages which are approaching, will Almighty God be Cause of the just separations from Himself, but they by having separated themselves entirely from Almighty God; even as we observe the others, becoming here already with Almighty God, since being lovers of truth, they depart from the proclivities of things material, and love peace in a complete freedom from all things evil, and a Divine love of all things good; and start their purification, even from the present life, by living, in the midst of mankind, the life which is to come, in a manner suitable to angels, with complete cessation of passion, and deification and goodness, and the other good attributes. As for you then, I would never be so crazy as to imagine that you feel any suffering; but I am persuaded that you ate sensible of the bodily sufferings merely to appraise them. But, as for those who are unjustly treating you, and fancying to imprison, not correctly, the sun of the Gospel, whilst fairly blaming them, I pray that by separating themselves from those things which they are bringing upon themselves they may be turned to the good, and may draw you to themselves, and may participate in the light. But for ourselves, the contrary will not deprive us of the all-luminous ray of John, who are even now about to read the record, and the renewal of this, thy true theology: but shortly after (for I will say it, even though it be rash), about to be united to you yourself. For, I am altogether trustworthy, from having learned, and reading the things made foreknown to you by God, that you will both be liberated from your imprisonment in Patmos, and will return to the Asiatic coast, and will perform there imitations of the good God, and will transmit them to those after you.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Matt. xxiii. 34.
# The letters of John Hus/Letter 65, To Henry Skopek de Duba

LXV. To Henry Skopek de Duba
(June 13, 1413)
God be with you, my dear lord! Your notes reached me on Wednesday before St. Vitus’s Day. I looked at them with a happy heart, although in prison, bound with chains and expecting my death-sentence. I entreat you, dear lord, live as the law of God commands and observe what you have heard from my lips: if there hath been aught of wrong therein, spurn it. Nevertheless I trust, by the Saviour’s mercy, you have learnt nothing from me that hath been contrary to His holy will. I cannot write at length; but in a few words I counsel you to keep in your heart God’s counsels, to be kind to the poor, to abstain from pride, to lead a chaste life, and to remember these words: “What thou art, what thou wert, what thou wilt be, ever ponder: ponder too the matter, the place, the subject, the ‘why,’ the ‘how,’ the ‘when’ of thy words.” Dear lord, remember me, and give my greeting to your wife and family and all my friends; for you will never methinks look upon my face again, as I am every moment expecting the sentence of death. Sent off on Thursday before St. Vitus’s Day. God be with you, dear Bohemians, and with me a sinner; it is for His holy law that I suffer.
* ↑ The letter is in Czech. Cf. Letters LXI. and LXII. to the same.
* ↑ i.e., June 12.
* ↑ See also next letter, p. 237. I do not know the source of this quotation.
# The letters of John Hus/Letter 67, Master John Hus to the "Father"

LXVII. Master John Hus to the “Father”
(Without date: middle of June)
May the Father Almighty, most wise and most loving, be pleased to grant to my “Father,” highly esteemed for Christ Jesus’s sake, the everlasting life of glory. Reverend Father, I am truly grateful for your pious and fatherly kindness. I dare not submit myself to the Council in the terms you have suggested, because ​thereby I should have to condemn many truths which, as I have heard from their own lips, they call “scandalous,” and also because I should be guilty of perjury if I abjured and confessed that I have held erroneous views; and thereby I should greatly scandalise God’s people who have heard the contrary in my preaching. If then the holy Eleazar, who lived under the old law, and of whom we read in Maccabees, refused to make a lying confession that he had eaten flesh forbidden by the law so as not to act against God’s will and to leave an evil example to his descendants, how could I, a priest of the new law, albeit unworthy, for fear of a penalty which will soon be over, be guilty of the more grievous sin of breaking God’s law? In the first place, I should err from the truth, in the second I should commit perjury, and thirdly I should be a stumbling-block to my neighbours. Assuredly it is fitting for me rather to die than to flee a momentary penalty to fall into the Lord’s hand and afterwards, perchance, into everlasting fire and shame. And because I have appealed to Christ Jesus, the most potent and just of all judges, committing my cause to Him, therefore I stand by His judgment and sentence, knowing that He will judge every man not on false and erroneous evidence but on the true facts and merits of the case.
* ↑ 2 Macc. vi.18 ff.
* ↑ P. 79.
# The letters of John Hus/Letter 68, Master John Hus to the "Father"

LXVIII. Master John Hus to the “Father”
(Without date: middle of June 1415)
The Council hath often made all these demands of me; but it is for the reason that they involve my recantation, abjuring, and the undergoing of penance, in which case I should have to give up many truths. Secondly, I should be forced to abjure, and so be a perjurer by admitting the errors which have been falsely laid to my charge. Thirdly, I should be a stumbling-block to many of God’s people to whom I have preached; for which cause it were fitting that a millstone were hanged about my neck and I be cast into the depths of the sea. Fourthly, if I took this course in my wish to escape a brief confusion and punishment, I should fall into the deepest confusion and punishment of all, unless I humbly repented before death. Therefore for my comfort I have bethought me of the seven Maccabean martyrs, who desired rather to be cut into pieces than to eat flesh contrary to the law of the Lord. I recall too the holy Eleazar, who, as it is written, refused only to say that he had eaten flesh forbidden by law, lest he should offer a bad example to posterity, but rather endured martyrdom. How, then, with the holy men and women of the gospel before my eyes, who gave themselves up to martyrdom rather than consent to sin, could I, who have preached on patience and constancy for so many years, be guilty of many falsehoods and of perjury, and so scandalise the children of God? Far be it from me; for Christ the Lord will abundantly reward me, by granting me strength to endure in ​this present life and glory in that which is to come.
* ↑ Matt. xviii. 6.
* ↑ Cf. p. 240, n. 3.
# The letters of John Hus/Letter 62, To a Friend

LXII. To a Friend
(June 9, 1415)
[Forward this letter on parchment to Lord Henry Skopek, because it was in memory of him that I kept it by me in prison, and composed those verses in my leisure moments.]
Lord Henry, faithful friend in God, remember the good you have learnt from me and observe it, that you may presently attain to the heavenly joy. Remember that I said, “I hope God will send further trials to me.” I am writing the letters on the Sunday before the Feast of St. Vitus, in expecta tion of death.
The following letter is of great interest historically, as throwing light upon the way in which Hus himself regarded the matter of the safe-conduct. But his reflections after the event are not altogether fair to Sigismund’s intentions, and the statement concerning Lord Mikess Diwoky is hard to understand.
# The letters of John Hus/Letter 63, To his Bohemian Friends

LXIII. To his Bohemian Friends
(Without date: shortly after June 8, 1415)
I am very pleased about Peter. I do not keep his letters, but destroy them at once. Big sheets should not be sent to me, for I am afraid of the risk to the messenger and other persons. I beg you for God’s sake to get all the nobles to petition Sigismund in a body for a final hearing, because he was the only one in the Council to say that at the next hearing I should be allowed to reply briefly in writing. His ​confusion will be great if that promise is unfulfilled. But methinks his word is as little to be trusted as in the matter of the safe-conduct. They told me in Bohemia to beware of that safe-conduct. Others said, “He will hand you over to your enemies.” Lord Mikess Diwoky remarked to me in the presence of Master Jesenicz, “Master, you may take it for certain that you will be condemned.” I imagine he knew the King’s intentions. I thought that God’s law and truth would be his wisdom, only I fancy he has not much wisdom. He passed judgment upon me before my enemies did. If he had only held to the method of the Gentile Pilate who, on hearing the charges, said, “I find no fault in this man,” or, at least, if he had said, “I gave him a safe-conduct; if he doth not wish to abide by the decision of the Council, I will send him back to the King of Bohemia with your verdict and findings, in order that his Majesty, along with his clergy, may pass judgment on him”! Indeed, he sent word to me by Lord Henry Lefl and others that he desired to arrange a satisfactory hearing for me, and if I did not accept the judgment he would send me back again in safety.
* ↑ Mladenowic.
* ↑ Sexterni—codices sex foliorum.
* ↑ For this promise of Sigismund, see Doc. 308.
* ↑ See p. 145, with which this statement seems a little contradictory, especially for one who was Sigismund’s own agent.
* ↑ John xix. 4.
* ↑ See p. 151.
# The letters of John Hus/Letter 70, To his Friends in Constance

LXX. To his Friends in Constance
(June 21, 1415)
This is my final intention in the name of Jesus Christ: I refuse to confess that the articles which have been extracted in their proper sense are erroneous, and I refuse to abjure those which have been laid to my charge by false witnesses, because to abjure them is to confess that I held an error or errors; nor will I depart from them and hold the opposite. For God knows I never preached those errors, which they have concocted by withdrawing many truths and introducing falsehoods. If I were convinced that any of my articles were contrary to the truth, I would most gladly amend and revoke them, and teach and preach the opposite; but I think there is none of them contrary to the gospel of Christ and the teachings of the doctors of the Church, although called ‘scandalous’ and ‘erroneous’ by those they displease. Therefore, whatever false ​meaning be contained of my set purpose in any article whatsoever, I abhor it, and submit myself to the correction of my almighty and supreme Master, trusting that of His infinite mercy He will cleanse me from secret sins. I return thanks to all the barons of the kingdom of Bohemia, to knights and retainers, and especially to King Wenzel and to the Queen, for having shown me affection, and having piously entreated me, and for having earnestly striven for my release. I thank Sigismund too for all the kindness he hath shown me. I thank all the Bohemian and Polish lords for having loyally and steadfastly stood out for the truth and my liberty, and I yearn for the salvation of them all, both now in grace and hereafter in glory everlasting. May the God of all grace bring you alive in bodily and spiritual health to Bohemia, that there you may serve Christ as King and attain to the life of glory. Greet all my friends, whose names I cannot write down; for if I should write some names and omit others, I might be deemed a respecter of persons, and those whose names I omitted might suppose I had forgotten them or loved them not as I ought. Written in prison, in chains, on Friday before the feast of St. John Baptist.
John Hus,
in hope a servant of Jesus Christ, from the hope of Whom the devil could never, and will never, separate me, guided as I am by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, blessed for ever and ever. Amen.
* ↑ It is difficult to know whether to take this as sarcasm or the kindliness of forgiveness.
* ↑ See p. 204. Doc. 550–55.
# The book of romance/The Sword Excalibur

illustrator: H. J. Ford
THE SWORD EXCALIBUR
King Arthur had fought a hard battle with the tallest Knight in all the land, and though he struck hard and well, he would have been slain had not Merlin enchanted the Knight and cast him into a deep sleep, and brought the King to a hermit who had studied the art of healing, and cured all his wounds in three days. Then Arthur and Merlin waited no longer, but gave the hermit thanks and departed.
As they rode together Arthur said, ‘I have no sword,’ but Merlin bade him be patient and he would soon give him one. In a little while they came to a large lake, and in the midst of the lake Arthur beheld an arm rising out of the water, holding up a sword. ‘Look!’ said Merlin, ‘that is the sword I spoke of.’ And the King looked again, and a maiden stood upon the water. ‘That is the Lady of the Lake,’ said Merlin, ‘and she is coming to you, and if you ask her courteously she will give you the sword.’ So when the maiden drew near Arthur saluted her and said, ‘Maiden, I pray you tell me whose sword is that which an arm is holding out of the water? I wish it were mine, for I have lost my sword.’
‘That sword is mine. King Arthur,’ answered she, ‘and I will give it to you, if you in return will give me a gift when I ask you.’
‘By my faith,’ said the King, ‘I will give you whatever gift you ask.’ ‘Well,’ said the maiden, ‘get into the
ARTHUR MEETS THE LADY OF THE LAKE AND GETS THE SWORD EXCALIBUR
​barge yonder, and row yourself to the sword, and take it and the scabbard with you.’ For this was the sword Excalibur. ‘As for my gift, I will ask it in my own time.’ Then King Arthur and Merlin dismounted from their horses and tied them up safely, and went into the barge, and when they came to the place where the arm was holding the sword Arthur took it by the handle, and the arm disappeared. And they brought the sword back to land. As they rode the King looked lovingly on his sword, which Merlin saw, and, smiling, said, ‘Which do you like best, the sword or the scabbard?’ ‘I like the sword,’ answered Arthur. ‘You are not wise to say that,’ replied Merlin, ‘for the scabbard is worth ten of the sword, and as long as it is buckled on you you will lose no blood, however sorely you may be wounded.’ So they rode into the town of Carlion, and Arthur’s Knights gave them a glad welcome, and said it was a joy to serve under a King who risked his life as much as any common man.
# The book of romance/The Passing of Merlin

illustrator: H. J. Ford
MERLIN AND VIVIEN
THE PASSING OF MERLIN
Sir Tor proved before long by his gallant deeds that he was worthy to sit in one of the two empty seats of the Round Table. Many of the other Knights went out also in search of adventures, and one of them, Sir Pellinore, brought a damsel of the lake to Arthur’s Court, and when Merlin saw her he fell in love with her, so that he desired to be always in her company. The damsel laughed in secret at Merlin, but made use of him to tell her all she would know, and the wizard had no strength to say her nay, though he knew what would come of it. For he told King Arthur that before long he should be put into the earth alive, for all his cunning. He likewise told the King many things that should befall him, and warned him always to keep the scabbard as well as the sword Excalibur, and foretold that both sword and scabbard should be stolen from him by a woman whom he most trusted. ‘You will miss my counsel sorely,’ added Merlin, ‘and would give all your lands to have me back again.’ ‘But since you know what will happen,’ said the King, ‘you may surely guard against it.’ ‘No,’ answered Merlin, ‘that will not be.’ So he departed from the King, and the maiden followed him whom some call Nimue and others Vivien, and wherever she went Merlin went also.
They journeyed together to many places, both at home and across the seas, and the damsel was wearied of him, and sought by every means to be rid of him, but he would not be shaken off. At last these two wandered back to ​Cornwall, and one day Merlin showed Vivien a rock under which he said great marvels were hidden. Then Vivien put forth all her powers, and told Merlin how she longed to see the wonders beneath the stone, and, in spite of all his wisdom. Merlin listened to her and crept under the rock to bring forth the strange things that lay there. And when he was under the stone she used the magic he had taught her, and the rock rolled over him, and buried him alive, as he had told King Arthur. But the damsel departed with joy, and thought no more of him: now that she knew all the magic he could teach her.
# The complete poetical works and letters of John Keats/'Great spirits now on earth are sojourning'

I
Great spirits now on earth are sojourning; He of the cloud, the cataract, the lake, Who on Helvellyn's summit, wide awake, Catches his freshness from Archangel's wing: He of the rose, the violet, the spring, The social smile, the chain for Freedom's sake: And lo!—whose steadfastness would never take A meaner sound than Raphael's whispering. And other spirits there are standing apart Upon the forehead of the age to come; These, these will give the world another heart, And other pulses. Hear ye not the hum Of mighty workings in the human mart? Listen awhile ye nations, and be dumb.
# The complete poetical works and letters of John Keats/'O! were I one of the Olympian twelve'

O! were I one of the Olympian twelve, Their godships should pass this into a law,— That when a man doth set himself in toil After some beauty veiled far away, Each step he took should make his lady's hand More soft, more white, and her fair cheek more fair; And for each briar-berry he might eat, A kiss should bud upon the tree of love, And pulp and ripen richer every hour, To melt away upon the traveller's lips. .........
# The complete poetical works and letters of John Keats/'Oh, I am frighten'd with most hateful thoughts!'

Oh, I am frighten'd with most hateful thoughts! Perhaps her voice is not a nightingale's, Perhaps her teeth are not the fairest pearl; Her eye-lashes may be, for aught I know, Not longer than the May-fly's small fan-horns; There may not be one dimple on her hand; And freckles many; ah! a careless nurse, In haste to teach the little thing to walk, May have crumpt up a pair of Dian's legs, And warpt the ivory of a Juno's neck. .........
# The complete poetical works and letters of John Keats/'Asleep! O sleep a little while, white pearl!'

Asleep! O sleep a little while, white pearl! And let me kneel, and let me pray to thee, And let me call Heaven's blessing on thine eyes, And let me breathe into the happy air, That doth enfold and touch thee all about, Vows of my slavery, my giving up, My sudden adoration, my great love!
# The complete poetical works and letters of John Keats/'Highmindedness, a jealousy for good'

II
Highmindedness, a jealousy for good, A loving-kindness for the great man's fame, Dwells here and there with people of no name, In noisome alley, and in pathless wood: And where we think the truth least understood, Oft may be found a 'singleness of aim,' That ought to frighten into hooded shame A money-mong'ring, pitiable brood. How glorious this affection for the cause Of steadfast genius, toiling gallantly! ​What when a stout unbending champion awes Envy, and Malice to their native sty? Unnumber'd souls breathe out a still applause, Proud to behold him in his country's eye.
# The complete poetical works and letters of John Keats/'Two or three Posies'

'Two or three Posies'
At the close of a letter, April 17, 1819, to his sister Fanny, Keats writes: 'Mr. and Mrs. Dilke are coming to dine with us to-day [at Wentworth Place]. They will enjoy the country after Westminster. O there is nothing like fine weather, and health, and Books, and a fine country, and a contented Mind, and diligent habit of reading and thinking, and an amulet against the ennui—and, please heaven, a little claret wine cool out of a cellar a mile deep—with a few or a good many ratafia cakes—a rocky basin to bathe in, a strawberry bed to say your prayers to Flora in, a pad nag to go you ten miles or so; two or three sensible people to chat with; two or three spiteful folks to spar with; two or three odd fishes to laugh at and two or three numskulls to argue with—instead of using dumb bells on a rainy day.'
Two or three Posies With two or three simples— Two or three Noses With two or three pimples— Two or three wise men And two or three ninny's— Two or three purses And two or three guineas— Two or three raps At two or three doors— Two or three naps Of two or three hours— Two or three Cats And two or three mice— Two or three sprats At a very great price— Two or three sandies And two or three tabbies— Two or three dandies And two Mrs. mum! Two or three Smiles And two or three frowns— Two or three Miles To two or three towns— Two or three pegs For two or three bonnets— Two or three dove eggs To hatch into sonnets—