MEMOIRS
OF THE REIGN OF
KING GEORGE THE THIRD.
VOL. I.
Houston, pinx.t
G. Cook, sc.
GEORGE III.
London, Published by Richard Bentley, 1844.
MEMOIRS
OF THE REIGN OF
KING GEORGE THE THIRD.
By HORACE WALPOLE,
YOUNGEST SON OF SIR ROBERT WALPOLE, EARL OF ORFORD.
NOW FIRST PUBLISHED FROM THE ORIGINAL MSS.
EDITED, WITH NOTES,
By Sir DENIS LE MARCHANT, Bart.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.
1845.
LONDON:
Printed by S. & J. Bentley, Wilson, and Fley
Bangor House, Shoe Lane.
v
PREFACE.
The Memoirs of the Reign of King Georgethe Third, by Horace Walpole (Earl of Orford),now for the first time submitted to the Public, areprinted from a manuscript copy contained in the boxof papers which came into the possession of the lateEarl of Waldegrave, under the circumstances statedin the Preface to “The Memoires of the Last TwelveYears of the Reign of George the Second.” Thismanuscript was placed by Lord Waldegrave in thehands of the late Lord Holland at the same timewith “the Memoires” last mentioned, and hopeswere long entertained that it would have had theadvantage of the editorial care which gave so muchadditional interest to that work; but from the dateof Lord Holland’s return to office, in 1830, the littleleisure he could find for literary pursuits was divertedfrom these volumes by engagements of a more pressviingcharacter; and it appeared at his death that hehad never even commenced the task which he wasof all persons eminently qualified to execute. Underthese circumstances Lord Euston (now Duke ofGrafton) on whom the property of the manuscripthad devolved, as Lord Waldegrave’s executor, becamevery desirous that the publication should nolonger be deferred; and happening to consult meon the subject, my interest was so much excitedby a cursory perusal, that I acceded to the requestmade to me to prepare the Work for the press.In this I was further encouraged by the assurance Ireceived of the zealous co-operation and assistance ofthe late Mr. John Allen, whose knowledge of the earlyyears of George the Third’s reign was surpassed bynone of his contemporaries (excepting, perhaps, LordHolland), and whose participation in all the studies,and I might almost add identification with the literarypursuits of that nobleman, would have given me manyof the advantages I should have derived from himself,had he been still living. I had several con