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| [John Henry Newman]—(Born in 1801, died in 1890.) |
| I | | [The Beginnings of Tractarianism.] |
| | (From the "Apologia pro Vita Sua") | [3] |
| II | | [On His Submission to the Catholic Church.] |
| | (From the "Apologia") | [7] |
| III | | [Of Athens as a True University.] |
| | (From Volume III of the "Historical Sketches") | [13] |
| [Edward Bulwer Lytton]—(Born in 1803, died in 1873.) |
| | [The Descent of Vesuvius on Pompeii.] |
| | (From "The Last Days of Pompeii") | [21] |
| [Lord Beaconsfield]—(Born in 1804, died in 1881.) |
| | [Jerusalem by Moonlight.] |
| | (From "Tancred") | [31] |
| [Charles Merivale]—(Born in 1808, died in 1893.) |
| | [The Personality of Augustus Cæsar.] |
| | (From the "History of the Romans Under the Empire") | [37] |
| [Alexander W. Kinglake]—(Born in 1809, died in 1891.) |
| I | | [On Mocking at the Sphinx.] |
| | (From "Eothen") | [42] |
| II | | [The Beginnings of the Crimean War.] |
| | (From "The Invasion of the Crimea") | [44] |
| [Charles Darwin]—(Born in 1809, died in 1882.) |
| I | | [On Variations in Mammals, Birds and Fishes.] |
| | (From "The Origin of Species") | [47] |
| II | | [The Genesis of a Great Book.] |
| | (From the "Autobiography," printed in Volume I of the "Life and Letters") | [51] |
| [John Brown]—(Born in 1810, died in 1882.) |
| | [Rab and the Game Chicken.] |
| | (From "Rab and His Friends") | [56] |
| [William M. Thackeray]—(Born in 1811, died in 1863.) |
| I | | [The Imperturbable Marlborough.] |
| | (From "The History of Henry Esmond") | [62] |
| II | | [At the Ball Before the Battle of Waterloo.] |
| | (From "Vanity Fair") | [65] |
| III | | [The Death of Colonel Newcome.] |
| | (From "The Newcomes") | [75] |
| IV | | [London in the Time of the First George.] |
| | (From the "Four Georges") | [80] |
| [Charles Dickens]—(Born in 1812, died in 1870.) |
| I | | [Sidney Carton's Death.] |
| | (The conclusion of "A Tale of Two Cities") | [86] |
| II | | [Bob Sawyer's Party.] |
| | (From Chapter XXXI of "The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club") | [88] |
| III | | [Dick Swiveller and the Marchioness.] |
| | (From Chapters LVII and LVIII of "The Old Curiosity Shop") | [97] |
| IV | | [A Happy Return of the Day.] |
| | (From Book III, Chapter IV, of "Our Mutual Friend") | [105] |
| [Charlotte Bronte]—(Born in 1816, died in 1855.) |
| | [Of the Author of "Vanity Fair."] |
| | (Preface to the second edition of "Jane Eyre") | [119] |
| [James Anthony Froude]—(Born in 1818, died in 1894.) |
| I | | [Of History as a Science.] |
| | (From "Short Studies on Great Subjects") | [122] |
| II | | [The Character of Henry VIII.] |
| | (From the "History of England") | [132] |
| III | | [Cæsar's Mission.] |
| | (From the concluding chapter of "Cæsar—A Sketch") | [136] |
| [John Ruskin]—(Born in 1819, died in 1900.) |
| I | | [Of the History and Sovereignty of Venice.] |
| | (From Chapter I of "The Stones of Venice") | [140] |
| II | | [St. Mark's at Venice.] |
| | (From Vol. II of "The Stones of Venice") | [151] |
| III | | [Of Water.] |
| | (From Vol. II, Section V, of "Modern Painters") | [159] |
| [George Eliot]—(Born in 1819, died in 1880.) |
| | [At the Hall Farm.] |
| | (From "Adam Bede") | [167] |
| [Herbert Spencer]—(Born in 1820, died in 1904.) |
| I | | [The Origin of Professional Occupations.] |
| | (From Volume III of "The Principles of Sociology") | [173] |
| II | | [Self-Dependence and Paternalism.] |
| | (From the "Essays, Moral, Political and Esthetic") | [181] |
| III | | [The Ornamental and the Useful in Education.] |
| | (From "Education, Intellectual, Moral and Physical") | [186] |
| IV | | [Reminiscences of His Boyhood.] |
| | (From Part I, Chapter II, of the "Autobiography") | [191] |
| V | | [A Tribute to E. L. Youmans.] |
| | (From Part VII of the "Autobiography") | [195] |
| VI | | [Why He Never Married]. |
| | (From Part XII of the "Autobiography") | [197] |
| [Henry Thomas Buckle]—(Born in 1821, died in 1862.) |
| I | | [The Isolation of Spain.] |
| | (From Vol. II, Chapter VIII, of the "History of Civilization in England") | [198] |
| II | | [George III and the Elder Pitt.] |
| | (From Vol. I, Chapter VII, of the "History of Civilization in England") | [204] |
| [Matthew Arnold]—(Born in 1822, died in 1888.) |
| | [The Motive for Culture.] |
| | (From "Culture and Anarchy") | [208] |
| [Edward A. Freeman]—(Born in 1823, died in 1892.) |
| | [The Death of William the Conqueror.] |
| | (From "The History of the Norman Conquest") | [214] |
| [Thomas Henry Huxley]—(Born in 1825, died in 1895.) |
| | [On a Piece of Chalk.] |
| | (From "Lay Sermons, Addresses and Reviews") | [219] |
| [Frederic Harrison]—(Born in 1831.) |
| | [The Great Books of the World.] |
| | (From an address on "The Choice of Books") | [230] |
| [John Richard Green]—(Born in 1837, died in 1883.) |
| | [George Washington.] |
| | (From Book IV, Chapter II, of the "History of the English People") | [242] |
| [John Morley]—(Born in 1838.) |
| | [Voltaire as an Author and as a Man of Action.] |
| | (From "Voltaire") | [244] |
| [Robert Louis Stevenson]—(Born in 1850, died in 1894.) |
| I | | [Francis Villon's Terrors.] |
| | (From "A Lodging for the Night: A Story of Francis Villon") | [247] |
| II | | [The Lantern Bearers.] |
| | (From "Across the Plains, with Other Memories and Essays") | [251] |