The Best of the Worlds Classics, Restricted to prose. | Page 2

in 1667.)
I Of Obscurity. (From the "Essays")
II Of Procrastination. (From the "Essays")
GEORGE FOX--(Born in 1624, died in 1691.)
An Interview with Oliver Cromwell. (From the "Journal")
JOHN BUNYAN--(Baptized in 1628, died in 1668.)
I A Dream of the Celestial City. (From "The Pilgrim's Progress")
II The Death of Valiant-for-truth and of Stand-fast. (From "The
Pilgrim's Progress")
III Ancient Vanity Fair. (From "The Pilgrim's Progress")
JOHN DRYDEN--(Born in 1631, died in 1700.)
Of Elizabethan Dramatists. (From the "Essay on Dramatic Poetry")
SAMUEL PEPYS--(Born in 1633, died in 1703.)
I Of Various Doings of Mr. and Mrs. Pepys. (From the "Diary")
II England Without Cromwell. (From the "Diary")
GILBERT BURNET--(Born in 1643, died in 1715.)
Charles II. (From the "History of Our Own Times")
DANIEL DEFOE--(Born in 1661, died in 1731.)
I The Shipwreck of Crusoe. (From "The Life and Surprizing
Adventures of Robinson Crusoe")

II The Rescue of Man Friday. (From "The Life and Surprizing
Adventures of Robinson Crusoe")
III In the Time of the Great Plague. (From the "History of the Great
Plague")
JONATHAN SWIFT--(Born in 1667, died in 1745.)
I On Pretense in Philosophers. (From "Gulliver's Travels")
II On the Hospitality of the Vulgar. (From No. 1 of The Tatler)
III The Art of Lying in Politics. (From The Examiner)
IV A Meditation upon a Broomstick
V Gulliver Among the Giants. (From "Gulliver's Travels")
JOSEPH ADDISON--(Born in 1672, died in 1719.)
I In Westminster Abbey. (From No. 26 of The Spectator)
II Will Honeycomb and His Marriage. (From Nos. 105 and 530 of The
Spectator)
III Pride of Birth. (From No. 137 of The Guardian)
IV Sir Roger and His Home. (From Nos. 2 and 106 of The Spectator)
* * * * *

GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND--I
1281-1745

RICHARD DE BURY

Born in 1281, died in 1345; the son of Sir Richard Aungerville, his own
name being taken from his birthplace, Bury St. Edmonds; educated at
Oxford, and became a Benedictine monk; tutor to Edward III; dean of
Wells Cathedral in 1333; bishop of Durham the same year; high
chancellor of England in 1334; founded a library at Oxford; his
"Philobiblon" first printed at Cologne in 1473.

IN PRAISE OF BOOKS[1]
The desirable treasure of wisdom and knowledge, which all men covet
from the impulse of nature, infinitely surpasses all the riches of the
world; in comparison with which, precious stones are vile, silver is clay,
and purified gold grains of sand; in the splendor of which, the sun and
moon grow dim to the sight; in the admirable sweetness of which,
honey and manna are bitter to the taste. The value of wisdom
decreaseth not with time; it hath an ever-flourishing virtue that
cleanseth its possession from every venom. O celestial gift of divine
liberality, descending from the Father of light to raise up the rational
soul even to heaven; thou art the celestial alimony of intellect, of which
whosoever eateth shall yet hunger, and whoso drinketh shall yet thirst;
a harmony rejoicing the soul of the sorrowful, and never in any way
discomposing the hearer. Thou art the moderator and the rule of morals,
operating according to which none err. By thee kings reign, and
lawgivers decree justly. Through thee, rusticity of nature being cast off,
wits and tongues being polished, and the thorns of vice utterly
eradicated, the summit of honor is reached and they become fathers of
their country and companions of princes, who, without thee, might
have forged their lances into spades and plowshares, or perhaps have
fed swine with the prodigal son.
Where, then, most potent, most longed-for treasure, art thou concealed?
and where shall the thirsty soul find thee? Undoubtedly, indeed, thou
hast placed thy desirable tabernacle in books, where the Most High, the
Light of light, the Book of Life, hath established thee. There then all
who ask receive, all who seek find thee, to those who knock thou
openest quickly. In books Cherubim expand their wings, that the soul

of the student may ascend and look around from pole to pole, from the
rising to the setting sun, from the north and from the south. In them the
Most High, Incomprehensible God himself is contained and worshiped.
In them the nature of celestial, terrestrial, and infernal beings is laid
open. In them the laws by which every polity is governed are decreed,
the offices of the celestial hierarchy are distinguished, and tyrannies of
such demons are described as the ideas of Plato never surpassed, and
the chair of Crito never sustained.
In books we find the dead as it were living: in books we foresee things
to come; in books warlike affairs are methodized; the rights of peace
proceed from books. All things are corrupted and decay with time.
Satan never ceases to devour those whom