Produced by Joseph R. Hauser, Sankar Viswanathan, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net [Illustration: TAINE, DANTE, GOETHE, CERVANTES] 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. VIII CONTINENTAL EUROPE--II FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY NEW YORK AND LONDON COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY * * * * * The Best of the World's Classics VOL. VIII CONTINENTAL EUROPE--II * * * * * CONTENTS VOL. VIII--CONTINENTAL EUROPE--II FRANCE--CONTINUED 1805-1909 ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE--(Born in 1805, died in 1859.) The Tyranny of the American Majority. (From Chapter XV of "Democracy in America." Translated by Henry Reeve) ALFRED DE MUSSET--(Born in 1810, died in 1857.) Titian's Son After a Night at Play. (From "Titian's Son." Translated by Erie Arthur Bell) THEOPHILE GAUTIER--(Born in 1811, died in 1872.) Pharaoh's Entry into Thebes. (From the "Romance of a Mummy." Translated by M. Young) GUSTAVE FLAUBERT--(Born in 1821, died in 1880.) Yonville and Its People. (From Part II of "Madame Bovary." Translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling) JOSEPH ERNEST RENAN--(Born in 1823, died in 1892.) An Empire in Robust Youth. (From the "History of the Origins of Christianity.") HIPPOLYTE ADOLPHE TAINE--(Born in 1828, died in 1893.) I Thackeray as a Satirist. (From Book V, Chapter II, of the "History of English Literature." Translated by H. van Laun) II When the King Got up for the Day. (From "The Ancient Régime." Translated by John Durand) EMILE ZOLA--(Born in 1840, died in 1902.) Glimpses of Napoleon III in Time of War. (From "La Débâcle." Translated by E. P. Robins) ALPHONSE DAUDET--(Born in 1840, died in 1897.) I A Great Man's Widow. (From "Artists' Wives." Translated by Laura Ensor) II My First Dress Coat. (From "Thirty Years of Paris." Translated by Laura Ensor) GUY DE MAUPASSANT--(Born in 1850, died in 1893.) Madame Jeanne's Last Days. (From the last chapter of "A Life." Translated by Eric Arthur Bell) GERMANY 1483-1859 MARTIN LUTHER--(Born in 1483, died in 1546.) Some of His Table Talk and Sayings. (From the "Table Talk.") GOTTHOLD E. LESSING--(Born in 1729, died in 1781.)