Sybil by Benjamin Disraeli (book recommendations website TXT) ๐
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Benjamin Disraeli was a remarkable historical figure. Born into a Jewish family, he converted to Anglican Christianity as a child. He is now almost certainly most famous for his political career. Becoming a member of the British Parliament at the age of 33, he initially rose to prominence within the Conservative (โToryโ) party because of his clashes with the then Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel. Rising to lead the Conservative Party, Disraeli became Prime Minister for a short period in 1868, and then for an extended period between 1874 and 1880. He became friendly with Queen Victoria and was appointed Earl of Beaconsfield by her in 1876.
However, Disraeli was much more than a politician. He wrote both political treatises and no less than seventeen novels during his lifetime, of which Sybil, or The Two Nations is now among the best regarded. The โTwo Nationsโ of the subtitle refer to the divisions in Britain between the rich and the poor, each of whom might as well be living in a different country from the other. In the novel, Disraeli highlights the terrible living conditions of the poor and the shocking injustices of how they were treated by most employers and land-owners. He contrasts this with the frivolous, pampered lifestyles of the aristocracy. He covers the rise of the Chartist movement, which was demanding universal manhood suffrageโthe right for all adult men to vote, regardless of whether they owned propertyโand other reforms to enable working men a voice in the government of the country. (Female suffrage was to come much later). The upheavals of the time led to the development of the Peopleโs Charter and a massive petition with millions of signatures being presented to Parliament. However the Parliament of the time refused to even consider the petition, triggering violent protests in Birmingham and elsewhere. All of this is well covered and explained in the novel.
Sybil is rather disjointed in structure as it ranges over these different topics, but the main plot revolves around Egremont, the younger son of a nobleman, who encounters some of the leaders of the workersโ movement and in particular Walter Gerard, one of the most respected of these leaders, whom Egremont befriends while concealing his real name and social position. During visits to Gerard under an assumed name, Egremont falls for the beautiful and saintly Sybil, Gerardโs daughter, but she rejects him when his true identity is exposed. Sybil subsequently undergoes many difficult trials as the peopleโs movement develops and comes into conflict with the authorities.
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- Author: Benjamin Disraeli
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Table of Contents Titlepage Imprint Dedication Advertisement Sybil Book I I II III IV V VI Book II I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI Book III I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X Book IV I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV Book V I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI Book VI I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII Endnotes Colophon Uncopyright ImprintThis ebook is the product of many hours of hard work by volunteers for Standard Ebooks, and builds on the hard work of other literature lovers made possible by the public domain.
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DedicationI would inscribe these volumes to one whose noble spirit and gentle nature ever prompt her to sympathise with the suffering; to one whose sweet voice has often encouraged, and whose taste and judgment have ever guided, their pages; the most severe of critics, butโ โa perfect wife!
AdvertisementThe general reader whose attention has not been specially drawn to the subject which these volumes aim to illustrate, the Condition of the People, might suspect that the writer had been tempted to some exaggeration in the scenes which he has drawn and the impressions which he has wished to convey. He thinks it therefore due to himself to state that he believes there is not a trait in this work for which he has not the authority of his own observation, or the authentic evidence which has been received by Royal Commissions and Parliamentary Committees. But while he hopes he has alleged nothing which is not true, he has found the absolute necessity of suppressing much that is genuine. For so little do we know of the state of our own country that the air of improbability that the whole truth would inevitably throw over these pages, might deter many from their perusal.
Grosvenor-Gate, May Day, 1845.
Sybil Or, The Two Nations Book I IโIโll take the odds against Caravan.โ
โIn ponies?โ
โDone.โ
And Lord Milford, a young noble, entered in his book the bet which he had just made with Mr. Latour, a grey headed member of the Jockey Club.
It was the eve of the Derby of 1837. In a vast and golden saloon, that in its decorations would have become, and in its splendour would not have disgraced, Versailles in the days of the grand monarch, were assembled many whose hearts beat at the thought of the morrow, and whose brains still laboured to control its fortunes to their advantage.
โThey say that Caravan looks puffy,โ lisped in a low voice a young man, lounging on the edge of a buhl table that had once belonged to a Mortemart, and dangling a rich cane with affected indifference in order to conceal his anxiety from all, except the person whom he addressed.
โThey are taking seven to two against him freely over the way,โ was the reply. โI believe itโs all right.โ
โDo you know I dreamed last night something about Mango,โ continued the gentleman with the cane, and with a look of uneasy superstition.
His companion shook his head.
โWell,โ continued the gentleman with the cane, โI have no opinion of him. I gave Charles Egremont the odds against Mango this morning; he goes with us, you know. By the by, who is our fourth?โ
โI thought of Milford,โ was the reply in an under tone. โWhat say you?โ
โMilford is going with St. James and Punch Hughes.โ
โWell, let us come into supper, and we shall see some fellow we like.โ
So saying, the companions, taking their course through more than one chamber, entered an apartment of less dimensions than the principal saloon, but not less sumptuous in its general appearance. The gleaming lustres poured a flood of soft yet brilliant light over a plateau glittering with gold plate, and fragrant with exotics embedded in vases of rare porcelain. The seats on each side of the table were occupied by persons consuming, with a heedless air, delicacies for which they had no appetite; while the conversation in general consisted of flying phrases referring to the impending event of the great day that had already dawned.
โCome from Lady St. Julianโs, Fitz?โ said a youth of very tender years, and whose fair visage was as downy and as blooming as the peach from which with a languid air he withdrew his lips to make this inquiry of the gentleman with the cane.
โYes; why were not you there?โ
โI never go anywhere,โ replied the melancholy Cupid, โeverything bores me so.โ
โWell, will you go to Epsom with us tomorrow, Alfred?โ said Lord
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