The Brotherhood of Consolation by Honore de Balzac On a fine evening in the month of September, 1836, a man about thirty years of age was leaning on the parapet of that quay from which a spectator can look up the Seine from the Jardin des Plantes to Notre-Dame, and down, along the vast perspective of the river, to the Louvre. There is not another point of view to compare with it in the capital of ideas. We feel ourselves on the quarter-deck, as it were, of a gigantic vessel. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.

Excerpt from The Brotherhood of Consolation This last remark made the dreamer at the parapet quiver. The man who made it little knew that, to use a proverbial expression, he was killing two birds with one stone, addressing two miseries, - a working life brought to despair, a suffering soul without a compass, the victim of what Panurge's sheep call progress, and what, in France, is called equality. The words, simple in themselves, became sublime from the tone of him who said them, in a voice that possessed a spell. Are there not, in fact, some calm and tender voices that produce upon us the same effect as a far horizon outlook? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Excerpt from The English-Speaking Brotherhood and the League of Nations I should again1 like to publish here two letters from per sonal friends whom. I consider to have been at that time the most representative of the two broadly differing, if not Opposed, conceptions of America's position in the foreign affairs of the world, John Hay and Charles Eliot Norton. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from The Subterranean Brotherhood I am conscious Of having left out a great deal Of it. I found as I went on with this writ ing that the things to be said were restricted to a few categories. First, the physical prison itself and the routine Of life in it must be stated. That is the Objective part. Then must be indicated the Subjective conditions, those Of the prisoner, and Of his keepers - what the effect Of prison was upon them. Next was to come a presentation Of the consequences, deductions and inferences sug gested by these conditions. Finally, we would be confronted with the question, What is to be done about it? Such are the main heads of the theme. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Consolation I wish you would call on Mrs. Luce and try to comfort her in her bereavement, said a friend Of mine who was accustomed to sug gest to me a way Of being useful to others when she saw an Opportunity Of doing it. What calamity has befallen your friend Mrs. Luce that she needs help from a compara tive stranger? She has her minister and many intelligent friends, who ought to be able to give her all the consolation that one person can give another. I know that. They have tried, but they have done nothing to lift her burden Of sorrow or dispel one shadow from her mind; she continues to be perfectly hopeless and the picture Of despair. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from The Works of Honoré De Balzac, Vol. 16: The Chouans; A Passion in the Desert; The Brotherhood of Consolation Z. Marcas Early in the year VIII., at the beginning of Vende miaire, or, to conform to our own calendar, towards th close of September, 1799, a hundred or so of peasant and a large number of citizens, who had left Fougere in the morning on their way to Mayenne, were going up the little mountain of La Pelerine, half-way betwee: Fougeres and Ernee, a small town where traveller along that road are in the habit of resting. This com pany, divided into groups that were more or less nu merous, presented a collection of such fantastic costume and a mixture of individuals belonging to so many an: diverse localities and professions that it will be we to describe their characteristic difl'erences, in order t give to this history the vivid local coloring to which s much value is attached in these days, -though som critics do assert that it injures the representation c sentiments. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.