Sybil, or The Two Nations is an 1845 social and political novel by Benjamin Disraeli. It explores the divide between the wealthy and the poor in Victorian England, often called 'the two nations', against the backdrop of industry and Chartist agitation. It is worth listening to for its portrait of class conflict and political reform.
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Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
SYBIL,
or THE TWO NATIONS
By Benjamin Disraeli
I 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, but
—a perfect Wife!
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The 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.
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