BRITISH AMBASSADOR
MARSHAL BLUCHER
JEW MONEY-LENDERS
LORD ALVANLEY
GENERAL PALMER
"MONK" LEWIS
SIR THOMAS TURTON
GEORGE SMYTHE, THE LATE LORD STRANGFORD
THE HONOURABLE GEORGE TALBOT
A DINNER AT SIR JAMES BLAND BURGES'S, IN LOWER BROOK STREET; AUTUMN, 1815
LORD BYRON
SHELLEY
ROBERT SOUTHEY, THE POET
CAPTAIN HESSE, FORMERLY OF THE 18TH HUSSARS
VISITING IN THE COUNTRY
COLONEL KELLY AND HIS BLACKING
LORD ALLEN AND COUNT D'ORSAY
Mr. PHELPS
THE LATE LORD BLOOMFIELD
THE RIGHT HON. GEORGE CANNING
MRS. BOEHM, OF ST. JAMES'S SQUARE
DR. GOODALL, OF ETON
LORD MELBOURNE, THE DUKE OF LEINSTER, AND LORD NORMANBY
THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER
LADY CORK
THE DUCHESS OF GORDON
THE LATE MRS. BRADSHAW (MARIA TREE)
LADIES' JEWELLERY AND LOVERS
THE LATE LORD HENRY SEYMOUR
FRANCE AND THE FRENCH

A FEW WORDS TO THE READER

It has been my lot to have lived through the greater part of one of the
most eventful centuries of England's history, and I have been thrown
amongst most of the remarkable men of my day; whether soldiers,
statesman, men of letters, theatrical people, or those whose birth and
fortune--rather, perhaps, than their virtues or talents--have caused
them to be conspicuous in society at home or abroad. Nature having
endowed me with a strong memory, I can recall with all their original
vividness scenes that took place fifty years ago, and distinctly
recollect the face, walk, and voice, as well as the dress and general
manner, of everyone whom I have known. I have frequently repeated to my
friends what I have seen and heard since the year that I joined the
Guards (1813), and have been urged to commit to paper my anecdotes and
reminiscences.

Unfortunately, I have not the power of efficiently describing in words
the pictures that are hung up in the long gallery of my memory: a man
may see very distinctly the landscape before him, yet he may be unable
to delineate that which he gazes upon and is intimately acquainted
with. A viva voce narrative of an incident told to a friend in
conversation may pass muster, and one is able to fill up any gaps in an
imperfect description; but it always occurred to me that I had no right
to task a reader's time and patience unless I could put before him what
I had to say in a lucid and complete form; I therefore refrained from
committing myself to print. I have at length, however, yielded to the
suggestion of friends, and wr