Transcriber's Notes:
1. Page scan source: Google Books
https://books.google.com/books?id=32oWAAAAYAAJ
(Harvard University)
TAUCHNITZ EDITION.By the same Author. | |
| MORLEY ERNSTEIN (WITH PORTRAIT) | 1 vol. |
| FOREST DAYS | 1 vol. |
| THE FALSE HEIR | 1 vol. |
| ARABELLA STUART | 1 vol. |
| ROSE D'ALBRET | 1 vol. |
| ARRAH NEIL | 1 vol. |
| AGINCOURT | 1 vol. |
| THE SMUGGLER | 1 vol. |
| THE STEP-MOTHER | 2 vols. |
| HEIDELBERG | 1 vol. |
| THE GIPSY | 1 vol. |
| THE CASTLE OF EHRENSTEIN | 1 vol. |
| DARNLEY | 1 vol. |
| RUSSELL | 2 vols. |
| THE CONVICT | 2 vols. |
| SIR THEODORE BROUGHTON | 2 vols. |
It was in the reign of one of the Georges--it does not matter which,though perhaps the reader may discover in the course of this history.After all, what does it signify in what king's reign an eventhappened, for although there may be something in giving to anyparticular story "a local habitation and a name," yet there isnothing, strange to say, which gives one--I speak from my ownexperience--a greater perception of the delusiveness of every thing onearth, than the study of, and deep acquaintance with the annals of amany-lined monarchy. To see how these spoilt children of fortune havefought and struggled, coveted and endeavoured, obtained or have beendisappointed, hoped, feared, joyed, and passed away--ay, passed, sothat the monumental stone and a few historic lines from friend andfoe, as dry as doubtful, are all that remains of them--it gives us asensation that all on earth is a delusion, that history is but thepages of a dream-book, the truest chronicle, but a record of theunreal pageants that are gone.
However that may be, it was in the reign of one of the Georges--I wontbe particular as to the date, for Heaven knows I am likely to bemistaken in the curl of a whig, or the fashion of a sleeve-button, andthen what would the antiquaries say?
It was in the reign of one of the Georges--thank Heaven, there werefour of them, in long and even succession, so that I may do any thingI like with the coats, waistcoats, and breeches, and have a vast rangethrough a wilderness of petticoats (hooped and unhooped, tight, loose,long, short, flowing, tucked up), to say nothing of flounces andfurbelows, besides head-dresses, in endless variety, patches, powder,and poma