The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, by Henry Fielding
Contents
- Dedication
- Chapter I. The Introduction To the Work, or Bill of Fare To the Feast
- Chapter II. A Short Description of Squire Allworthy, and a Fuller Account of Miss Bridget Allworthy, His Sister
- Chapter III. An Odd Accident Which Befel Mr Allworthy at His Return Home. The Decent Behaviour of Mrs Deborah Wilkins, With Some Proper Animadversions on Bastards
- Chapter IV. The Reader's Neck Brought Into Danger by a Description; His Escape; and the Great Condescension of Miss Bridget Allworthy
- Chapter V. Containing a Few Common Matters, With a Very Uncommon Observation Upon Them
- Chapter VI. Mrs Deborah Is Introduced Into the Parish With a Simile. A Short Account of Jenny Jones, With the Difficulties and Discouragements Which May Attend Young Women in the Pursuit of Learning
- Chapter VII. Containing Such Grave Matter, That the Reader Cannot Laugh Once Through the Whole Chapter, Unless Peradventure He Should Laugh at the Author
- Chapter VIII. A Dialogue Between Mesdames Bridget and Deborah; Containing More Amusement, but Less Instruction, Than the Former
- Chapter IX. Containing Matters Which Will Surprize the Reader
- Chapter X. The Hospitality of Allworthy; With a Short Sketch of the Characters of Two Brothers, a Doctor and a Captain, Who Were Entertained by That Gentleman
- Chapter XI. Containing Many Rules, and Some Examples, Concerning Falling in Love: Descriptions of Beauty, and Other More Prudential Inducements To Matrimony
- Chapter XII. Containing What the Reader May, Perhaps, Expect To Find in It
- Chapter XIII. Which Concludes the First Book; With an Instance of Ingratitude, Which, We Hope, Will Appear Unnatural
- Chapter I. Showing What Kind of a History This Is; What It Is Like, and What It Is Not Like
- Chapter II. Religious Cautions Against Showing Too Much Favour To Bastards; and a Great Discovery Made by Mrs Deborah Wilkins
- Chapter III. The Description of a Domestic Government Founded Upon Rules Directly Contrary To Those of Aristotle
- Chapter IV. Containing One of the Most Bloody Battles, or Rather Duels, That Were Ever Recorded in Domestic History
- Chapter V. Containing Much Matter To Exercise the Judgment and Reflection of the Reader
- Chapter VI. The Trial of Partridge, the Schoolmaster, for Incontinency; the Evidence of His Wife; a Short Reflection on the Wisdom of Our Law; With Other Grave Matters, Which Those Will Like Best Who Understand
- Chapter VII. A Short Sketch of That Felicity Which Prudent Couples May Extract From Hatred: With a Short Apology for Those People Who Overlook Imperfections in Their Friends
- Chapter VIII. A Receipt To Regain the Lost Affections of a Wife, Which Hath Never Been Known To Fail in the Most Desperate Cases
- Chapter IX. A Proof of the Infallibility of the Foregoing Receipt, in the Lamentations of the Widow; With Other Suitable Decorations of Death, Such as Physicians, &c., and an Epitaph in the True Stile
- Chapter I. Containing Little or Nothing
- Chapter II. The Heroe of This Great History Appears With Very Bad Omens. A Little Tale of So Low a Kind That Some May Think It Not Worth Their Notice. A Word or Two Concerning a Squire, and More Relating To a Gamekeeper and a Schoolmaster
- Chapter III. The Character of Mr Square the Philosopher, and of Mr Thwackum the Divine; With a Dispute Concerning——
- Chapter IV. Containing a Necessary Apology for the Author; and a Childish Incident, Which Perhaps Requires an Apology Likewise
- Chapter V. The Opinions of the Divine and the Philosopher Concerning the Two Boys; With Some Reasons for Their Opinions, and Other Matters
- Chapter VI. Containing a Better Reason Still for the Before-mentioned Opinions
- Chapter VII. In Which the Author Himself Makes His Appearance on the Stage
- Chapter VIII. A Childish Incident, in Which, However, Is Seen a Good-natured Disposition in Tom Jones
- Chapter IX. Containing an Incident of a More Heinous Kind, With the Comments of Thwackum and Square
- Chapter X. In Which Master Blifil and Jones Appear in Different Lights
- Chapter I. Containing Five Pages of Paper
- Chapter II. A Short Hint of What We Can Do in the Sublime, and a Description of Miss Sophia Western
- Chapter III. Wherein the History Goes Back To Commemorate a Trifling Incident That Happened Some Years Since; but Which, Trifling as It Was, Had Some Future Consequences
- Chapter IV. Containing Such Very Deep and Grave Matters, That Some Readers, Perhaps, May Not Relish It
- Chapter V. Containing Matter Accommodated To Every Taste
- Chapter VI. An Apology for the Insensibility of Mr Jones To All the Charms of the Lovely Sophia; in Which Possibly We May, in a Considerable Degree, Lower His Character in the Estimation of Those Men of Wit And
- Chapter VII. Being the Shortest Chapter in This Book
- Chapter VIII. A Battle Sung by the Muse in the Homerican Style, and Which None but the Classical Reader Can Taste
- Chapter IX. Containing Matter of No Very Peaceable Colour
- Chapter X. A Story Told by Mr Supple, the Curate. The Penetration of Squire Western. His Great Love for His Daughter, and the Return To It Made by Her
- Chapter XI. The Narrow Escape of Molly Seagrim, With Some Observations for Which We Have Been Forced To Dive Pretty Deep Into Nature
- Chapter XII. Containing Much Clearer Matters; but Which Flowed From the Same Fountain With Those in the Preceding Chapter
- Chapter XIII. A Dreadful Accident Which Befel Sophia. The Gallant Behaviour of Jones, and the More Dreadful Consequence of That Behaviour To the Young Lady; With a Short Digression in Favour of the Female Sex. —
- Chapter XIV. The Arrival of a Surgeon.—his Operations, and a Long Dialogue Between Sophia and Her Maid
- Chapter I. Of the Serious in Writing, and for What Purpose It Is Introduced
- Chapter II. In Which Mr Jones Receives Many Friendly Visits During His Confinement; With Some Fine Touches of the Passion of Love, Scarce Visible To the Naked Eye
- Chapter III. Which All Who Have No Heart Will Think To Contain Much Ado About Nothing
- Chapter IV. A Little Chapter, in Which Is Contained a Little Incident
- Chapter V. A Very Long Chapter, Containing a Very Great Incident
- Chapter VI. By Comparing Which With the Former, the Reader May Possibly Correct Some Abuse Which He Hath Formerly Been Guilty of in the Application of the Word Love
- Chapter VII. In Which Mr Allworthy Appears on a Sick-bed
- Chapter VIII. Containing Matter Rather Natural Than Pleasing
- Chapter IX. Which, Among Other Things, May Serve as a Comment on That Saying of Aeschines, That “drunkenness Shows the Mind of a Man, as a Mirrour Reflects His Person.”
- Chapter X. Showing the Truth of Many Observations of Ovid, and of Other More Grave Writers, Who Have Proved Beyond Contradiction, That Wine Is Often the Forerunner of Incontinency
- Chapter XI. In Which a Simile in Mr Pope's Period of a Mile Introduces as Bloody a Battle as Can Possibly Be Fought Without the Assistance of Steel or Cold Iron
- Chapter XII. In Which Is Seen a More Moving Spectacle Than All the Blood in the Bodies of Thwackum and Blifil, and of Twenty Other Such, Is Capable of Producing
- Chapter I. Of Love
- Chapter II. The Character of Mrs Western. Her Great Learning and Knowledge of the World, and an Instance of the Deep Penetration Which She Derived From Those Advantages
- Chapter III. Containing Two Defiances To the Critics
- Chapter IV. Containing Sundry Curious Matters
- Chapter V. In Which Is Related What Passed Between Sophia and Her Aunt
- Chapter VI. Containing a Dialogue Between Sophia and Mrs Honour, Which May a Little Relieve Those Tender Affections Which the Foregoing Scene May Have Raised in the Mind of a Good-natured Reader
- Chapter VII. A Picture of Formal Courtship in Miniature, as It Always Ought To Be Drawn, and a Scene of a Tenderer Kind Painted at Full Length
- Chapter VIII. The Meeting Between Jones and Sophia
- Chapter IX. Being of a Much More Tempestuous Kind Than the Former
- Chapter X. In Which Mr Western Visits Mr Allworthy
- Chapter XI. A Short Chapter; but Which Contains Sufficient Matter To Affect the Good-natured Reader
- Chapter XII. Containing Love-letters, &c
- Chapter XIII. The Behaviour of Sophia on the Present Occasion; Which None of Her Sex Will Blame, Who Are Capable of Behaving in the Same Manner. And the Discussion of a Knotty Point in the Court of Conscience
- Chapter XIV. A Short Chapter, Containing a Short Dialogue Between Squire Western and His Sister
- Chapter I. A Comparison Between the World and the Stage
- Chapter II. Containing a Conversation Which Mr Jones Had With Himself
- Chapter III. Containing Several Dialogues
- Chapter IV. A Picture of a Country Gentlewoman Taken From the Life
- Chapter V. The Generous Behaviour of Sophia Towards Her Aunt
- Chapter VI. Containing Great Variety of Matter
- Chapter VII. A Strange Resolution of Sophia, and a More Strange Stratagem of Mrs Honour
- Chapter VIII. Containing Scenes of Altercation, of No Very Uncommon Kind
- Chapter IX. The Wise Demeanour of Mr Western in the Character of a Magistrate. A Hint To Justices of Peace, Concerning the Necessary Qualifications of a Clerk; With Extraordinary Instances of Paternal Madness and Filial Affection
- Chapter X. Containing Several Matters, Natural Enough Perhaps, but Low
- Chapter XI. The Adventure of a Company of Soldiers
- Chapter XII. The Adventure of a Company of Officers
- Chapter XIII. Containing the Great Address of the Landlady, the Great Learning of a Surgeon, and the Solid Skill in Casuistry of the Worthy Lieutenant
- Chapter XIV. A Most Dreadful Chapter Indeed; and Which Few Readers Ought To Venture Upon in an Evening, Especially When Alone
- Chapter XV. The Conclusion of the Foregoing Adventure
- Chapter I. A Wonderful Long Chapter Concerning the Marvellous; Being Much the Longest of All Our Introductory Chapters
- Chapter II. In Which the Landlady Pays a Visit To Mr Jones
- Chapter III. In Which the Surgeon Makes His Second Appearance
- Chapter IV. In Which Is Introduced One of the Pleasantest Barbers That Was Ever Recorded in History, the Barber of Bagdad, or He in Don Quixote, Not Excepted
- Chapter V. A Dialogue Between Mr Jones and the Barber
- Chapter VI. In Which More of the Talents of Mr Benjamin Will Appear, as Well as Who This Extraordinary Person Was
- Chapter VII. Containing Better Reasons Than Any Which Have Yet Appeared for the Conduct of Partridge; an Apology for the Weakness of Jones; and Some Further Anecdotes Concerning My Landlady
- Chapter VIII. Jones Arrives at Gloucester, and Goes To the Bell; the Character of That House, and of a Petty-fogger Which He There Meets With
- Chapter IX. Containing Several Dialogues Between Jones and Partridge, Concerning Love, Cold, Hunger, and Other Matters; With the Lucky and Narrow Escape of Partridge, as He Was on the Very Brink of Making a Fatal
- Chapter X. In Which Our Travellers Meet With a Very Extraordinary Adventure
- Chapter XI. In Which the Man of the Hill Begins To Relate His History
- Chapter XII. In Which the Man of the Hill Continues His History
- Chapter XIII. In Which the Foregoing Story Is Farther Continued
- Chapter XIV. In Which the Man of the Hill Concludes His History
- Chapter XV. A Brief History of Europe; and a Curious Discourse Between Mr Jones and the Man of the Hill
- Chapter I. Of Those Who Lawfully May, and of Those Who May Not, Write Such Histories as This
- Chapter II. Containing a Very Surprizing Adventure Indeed, Which Mr Jones Met With in His Walk With the Man of the Hill
- Chapter III. The Arrival of Mr Jones With His Lady at the Inn; With a Very Full Description of the Battle of Upton
- Chapter IV. In Which the Arrival of a Man of War Puts a Final End To Hostilities, and Causes the Conclusion of a Firm and Lasting Peace Between All Parties
- Chapter V. An Apology for All Heroes Who Have Good Stomachs, With a Description of a Battle of the Amorous Kind
- Chapter VI. A Friendly Conversation in the Kitchen, Which Had a Very Common, Though Not Very Friendly, Conclusion
- Chapter VII. Containing a Fuller Account of Mrs Waters, and by What Means She Came Into That Distressful Situation From Which She Was Rescued by Jones
- Chapter I. Containing Instructions Very Necessary To Be Perused by Modern Critics
- Chapter II. Containing the Arrival of an Irish Gentleman, With Very Extraordinary Adventures Which Ensued at the Inn
- Chapter III. A Dialogue Between the Landlady and Susan the Chamber-maid, Proper To Be Read by All Inn-keepers and Their Servants; With the Arrival, and Affable Behaviour of a Beautiful Young Lady; Which May Teach
- Chapter IV. Containing Infallible Nostrums for Procuring Universal Disesteem and Hatred
- Chapter V. Showing Who the Amiable Lady, and Her Unamiable Maid, Were
- Chapter VI. Containing, Among Other Things, the Ingenuity of Partridge, the Madness of Jones, and the Folly of Fitzpatrick
- Chapter VII. In Which Are Concluded the Adventures That Happened at the Inn at Upton
- Chapter VIII. In Which the History Goes Backward
- Chapter IX. The Escape of Sophia
- Chapter I. A Crust for the Critics
- Chapter II. The Adventures Which Sophia Met With After Her Leaving Upton
- Chapter III. A Very Short Chapter, in Which However Is a Sun, a Moon, a Star, and an Angel
- Chapter IV. The History of Mrs Fitzpatrick
- Chapter V. In Which the History of Mrs Fitzpatrick Is Continued
- Chapter VI. In Which the Mistake of the Landlord Throws Sophia Into a Dreadful Consternation
- Chapter VII. In Which Mrs Fitzpatrick Concludes Her History
- Chapter VIII. A Dreadful Alarm in the Inn, With the Arrival of an Unexpected Friend of Mrs Fitzpatrick
- Chapter IX. The Morning Introduced in Some Pretty Writing. A Stagecoach. The Civility of Chambermaids. The Heroic Temper of Sophia. Her Generosity. The Return To It. The Departure of the Company, and Their
- Chapter X. Containing a Hint or Two Concerning Virtue, and a Few More Concerning Suspicion
- Chapter I. Showing What Is To Be Deemed Plagiarism in a Modern Author, and What Is To Be Considered as Lawful Prize
- Chapter II. In Which, Though the Squire Doth Not Find His Daughter, Something Is Found Which Puts an End To His Pursuit
- Chapter III. The Departure of Jones From Upton, With What Passed Between Him and Partridge on the Road
- Chapter IV. The Adventure of a Beggar-man
- Chapter V. Containing More Adventures Which Mr Jones and His Companion Met on the Road
- Chapter VI. From Which It May Be Inferred That the Best Things Are Liable To Be Misunderstood and Misinterpreted
- Chapter VII. Containing a Remark or Two of Our Own and Many More of the Good Company Assembled in the Kitchen
- Chapter VIII. In Which Fortune Seems To Have Been in a Better Humour With Jones Than We Have Hitherto Seen Her
- Chapter IX. Containing Little More Than a Few Odd Observations
- Chapter X. In Which Mr Jones and Mr Dowling Drink a Bottle Together
- Chapter XI. The Disasters Which Befel Jones on His Departure for Coventry; With the Sage Remarks of Partridge
- Chapter XII. Relates That Mr Jones Continued His Journey, Contrary To the Advice of Partridge, With What Happened on That Occasion
- Chapter XIII. A Dialogue Between Jones and Partridge
- Chapter XIV. What Happened To Mr Jones in His Journey From St Albans
- Chapter I. An Invocation
- Chapter II. What Befel Mr Jones on His Arrival in London
- Chapter III. A Project of Mrs Fitzpatrick, and Her Visit To Lady Bellaston
- Chapter IV. Which Consists of Visiting
- Chapter V. An Adventure Which Happened To Mr Jones at His Lodgings, With Some Account of a Young Gentleman Who Lodged There, and of the Mistress of the House, and Her Two Daughters
- Chapter VI. What Arrived While the Company Were at Breakfast, With Some Hints Concerning the Government of Daughters
- Chapter VII. Containing the Whole Humours of a Masquerade
- Chapter VIII. Containing a Scene of Distress, Which Will Appear Very Extraordinary To Most of Our Readers
- Chapter IX. Which Treats of Matters of a Very Different Kind From Those in the Preceding Chapter
- Chapter X. A Chapter Which, Though Short, May Draw Tears From Some Eyes
- Chapter XI. In Which the Reader Will Be Surprized
- Chapter XII. In Which the Thirteenth Book Is Concluded
- Chapter I. An Essay To Prove That an Author Will Write the Better for Having Some Knowledge of the Subject on Which He Writes
- Chapter II. Containing Letters and Other Matters Which Attend Amours
- Chapter III. Containing Various Matters
- Chapter IV. Which We Hope Will Be Very Attentively Perused by Young People of Both Sexes
- Chapter V. A Short Account of the History of Mrs Miller
- Chapter VI. Containing a Scene Which We Doubt Not Will Affect All Our Readers
- Chapter VII. The Interview Between Mr Jones and Mr Nightingale
- Chapter VIII. What Passed Between Jones and Old Mr Nightingale; With the Arrival of a Person Not Yet Mentioned in This History
- Chapter IX. Containing Strange Matters
- Chapter X. A Short Chapter, Which Concludes the Book
- Chapter I. Too Short To Need a Preface
- Chapter II. In Which Is Opened a Very Black Design Against Sophia
- Chapter III. A Further Explanation of the Foregoing Design
- Chapter IV. By Which It Will Appear How Dangerous an Advocate a Lady Is When She Applies Her Eloquence To an Ill Purpose
- Chapter V. Containing Some Matters Which May Affect, and Others Which May Surprize, the Reader
- Chapter VI. By What Means the Squire Came To Discover His Daughter
- Chapter VII. In Which Various Misfortunes Befel Poor Jones
- Chapter VIII. Short and Sweet
- Chapter IX. Containing Love-letters of Several Sorts
- Chapter X. Consisting Partly of Facts, and Partly of Observations Upon Them
- Chapter XI. Containing Curious, but Not Unprecedented Matter
- Chapter XII. A Discovery Made by Partridge
- Chapter I. Of Prologues
- Chapter II. A Whimsical Adventure Which Befel the Squire, With the Distressed Situation of Sophia
- Chapter III. What Happened To Sophia During Her Confinement
- Chapter IV. In Which Sophia Is Delivered From Her Confinement
- Chapter V. In Which Jones Receives a Letter From Sophia, and Goes To a Play With Mrs Miller and Partridge
- Chapter VI. In Which the History Is Obliged To Look Back
- Chapter VII. In Which Mr Western Pays a Visit To His Sister, in Company With Mr Blifil
- Chapter VIII. Schemes of Lady Bellaston for the Ruin of Jones
- Chapter IX. In Which Jones Pays a Visit To Mrs Fitzpatrick
- Chapter X. The Consequence of the Preceding Visit
- Chapter I. Containing a Portion of Introductory Writing
- Chapter II. The Generous and Grateful Behaviour of Mrs Miller
- Chapter III. The Arrival of Mr Western, With Some Matters Concerning the Paternal Authority
- Chapter IV. An Extraordinary Scene Between Sophia and Her Aunt
- Chapter V. Mrs Miller and Mr Nightingale Visit Jones in the Prison
- Chapter VI. In Which Mrs Miller Pays a Visit To Sophia
- Chapter VII. A Pathetic Scene Between Mr Allworthy and Mrs Miller
- Chapter VIII. Containing Various Matters
- Chapter IX. What Happened To Mr Jones in the Prison
- Chapter I. A Farewel To the Reader
- Chapter II. Containing a Very Tragical Incident
- Chapter III. Allworthy Visits Old Nightingale; With a Strange Discovery That He Made on That Occasion
- Chapter IV. Containing Two Letters in Very Different Stiles
- Chapter V. In Which the History Is Continued
- Chapter VI. In Which the History Is Farther Continued
- Chapter VII. Continuation of the History
- Chapter VIII. Further Continuation
- Chapter IX. A Further Continuation
- Chapter X. Wherein the History Begins To Draw Towards a Conclusion
- Chapter XI. The History Draws Nearer To a Conclusion
- Chapter XII. Approaching Still Nearer To the End
- Chapter the Last
Book I
Book II
Book III
Book IV
Book V
Book VI
Book VII
Book VIII
Book IX
Book X
Book XI
Book XII
Book XIII
Book XIV
Book XV
Book XVI
Book XVII
Book XVIII
- Source and notes about this edition...
- Online edition by Oratlas. Text obtained from Project Gutenberg at /ebooks/6593 on 2024-04-26. Some parts of the Table of Contents were corrected using a 1917 publication of the book available on Internet Archive.