Chapter I: Front Matter

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THE BEST _of the_ WORLD'S CLASSICS

RESTRICTED TO PROSE

HENRY CABOT LODGE Editor-in-Chief

FRANCIS W. HALSEY Associate Editor

With an Introduction, Biographical and Explanatory Notes, etc.

In Ten Volumes

Vol. IV

GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND--II

Funk & Wagnalls Company New York and London Copyright, 1909, by Funk & Wagnalls Company

The Best of the World's Classics

VOL. IV

GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND--II

1672-1800

CONTENTS

VOL. IV--GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND--II

SIR RICHARD STEELE--(Born in 1672, died in 1729.)

I Of Companions and Flatterers

II The Story-Teller and His Art.
(From _The Guardian_)

III Sir Roger and the Widow.
(From _The Spectator_)

IV The Coverley Family Portraits.
(From _The Spectator_)

V On Certain Symptoms of Greatness.
(From _The Tatler_)

VI How to Be Happy tho Married.
(From _The Tatler_)

LORD BOLINGBROKE--(Born in 1678, died in 1751.)

I Of the Shortness of Human Life

II Rules for the Study of History.
(One of the "Letters on the Study of History")

ALEXANDER POPE--(Born in 1688, died in 1744.)

I An Ancient English Country Seat.
(A Letter to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu)

II His Compliments to Lady Mary.
(A Letter to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu)

III How to Make an Epic Poem.
(From _The Guardian_)

LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU--(Born in 1689, died in 1762.)

I On Happiness in the Matrimonial State.
(A Letter to Edward Wortley Montagu before she married him)

II Inoculation for the Smallpox.
(A Letter to Sarah Criswell, written from Adrianople, Turkey)

LORD CHESTERFIELD--(Born in 1694, died in 1773.)

I Of Good Manners, Dress and the World.
(From the "Letters to His Son")

II Of Attentions to Ladies.
(From the "Letters to His Son")

HENRY FIELDING--(Born in 1707, died in 1754.)

I Tom the Hero Enters the Stage.
(From "Tom Jones")

II Partridge Sees Garrick at the Play.
(From "Tom Jones")

III Mr. Adams in a Political Light.
(From "Joseph Andrews")

SAMUEL JOHNSON--(Born in 1709, died in 1784.)

I On Publishing His "Dictionary."
(From the Preface to the "Dictionary")

II Pope and Dryden Compared.
(From the "Lives of the Poets")

III Letter to Chesterfield on the Completion of the "Dictionary."
(From Boswell's "Life")

IV On the Advantages of Living in a Garret.
(From _The Rambler_)

DAVID HUME--(Born in 1711, died in 1776.)

I The Character of Queen Elizabeth.
(From the "History of England")

II The Defeat of the Armada.
(From the "History of England")

III The First Principles of Government

LAURENCE STERNE--(Born in 1713, died in 1768.)

I The Starling in Captivity.
(From "The Sentimental Journey")

II To Moulines with Maria.
(From "The Sentimental Journey")

III The Death of LeFevre.
(From "Tristram Shandy")

IV Passages from the Romance of My Uncle Toby and the Widow.
(From "Tristram Shandy")

THOMAS GRAY--(Born in 1716, died in 1771.)

I Warwick Castle.
(A Letter to Thomas Wharton)

II To His Friend Mason on the Death of Mason's Mother

III On His Own Writings.
(A Letter to Horace Walpole)

IV His Friendship for Bonstetten.
(From a Letter to Bonstetten)

HORACE WALPOLE--(Born in 1717, died in 1797.)

I Hogarth.
(From the "Anecdotes of Painting in England")

II The War in America.
(From a Letter written at Strawberry Hill)

III The Death of George II.
(A Letter to Sir Horace Mann)

GILBERT WHITE--(Born in 1720, died in 1793.)

The Chimney Swallow.
(From "The Natural History of Selborne")

ADAM SMITH--(Born in 1723, died in 1790.)

I Of Ambition Misdirected.
(From the "Theory of Moral Sentiments")

II The Advantages of a Division of Labor.
(From "The Wealth of Nations")

SIR WILLIAM BLACKSTONE--(Born in 1723, died in 1780.)

Professional Soldiers in Free Countries.
(From the "Commentaries")

OLIVER GOLDSMITH--(Born in 1728, died in 1774.)

I The Ambitions of the Vicar's Family.
(From "The Vicar of Wakefield")

II Sagacity in Insects.
(From "The Bee")