2 MR. COLBURN'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. introduction to this work, "the author enjoyed with many of the chief personages of the times, and what he calls his propensity to faction made him acquainted with the most secret intrigues and negotiations of parties," and his lordship goes on to state that the period of which he treats is a part of our history little known to us, yet well deserving our curiosity, as it forms a transition from the expiring struggles of Jacobitism to the more important contests that have since engaged and still occupy, our attention. "His account of parliamentary debates alone," he adds, "would be a valuable addition to our history." On the same subject the author himself says in the postscript to these memoirs, "For the facts, such as were not public, I received them chiefly from my father and Mr. Fox, both men of veracity; and some from communication with the Duke of Bedford at the very time they were in agitation. I am content to rest their authenticity on the sincerity of such men. The speeches I can affirm, nay, of every one of them, to be still more authentic, as I took notes at the time, and have delivered the arguments just as I heard them." It may be as well to remind the reader that the reign of George II. was rendered memorable by the dawning of the greatness of Pitt, and the minority of George III.; by the struggles of the grandson of James II., commonly called "The Young Pretender," to win back the forfeited throne of the Stuarts; by the opposition to the reigning king of his son Frederick Prince of Wales; by the remarkable trial and execution of Admiral Byng, and the no less celebrated court-martial on Lord George Sackville; by the splendid victories of Wolfe in America, and Lord Clive in India; the capture of Cherbourg, the acquisition of Cape Breton, and the naval triumphs of Boscawen, Howe, Hawke, Watson, Vernon, and Saunders. The most distinguished of contemporary sovereigns were Frederick the Great, Louis XV., Augustus King of Saxony, the Czarina Elizabeth, and the Empress Maria Theresa; and in consequence of the interest George II. took in his Hanoverian dominions, the English were continually engaged in the war then raging in Germany, in which these sovereigns were involved. These incidents are chronicled with a masterly hand by Walpole; and the reader will look in vain elsewhere for the spirited sketches that enrich the narrative of the various actors in them at home and abroad. In no other work can he hope so thoroughly to become acquainted with the features of such statesmen as Sir Robert Walpole, Bolingbroke, Pulteney, John Duke of Bedford, the Pelhams, the Townshends, the Grenvilles, Chatham, Fox, and the other great names that adorned the cabinet and the senate-or of Chesterfield, Bubb Doddington, George Selwyn, and Hanbury Williams; politicians, however, who seemed to care much more for the reputation of wits than the fame of senators, though they possessed considerable pretensions to both characters. But the careful chronicler omits no link in the social scale that may serve to characterise the curious age he delineates. The result is a history which, with the veracity of a chronicle, affords equal entertainment with the most vivacious romance, and though sufficiently attractive in its own merits to all classes of readers, is essential to every library containing any portion of the Walpole Works and Correspondence. HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 3 DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO HER MAJESTY. Now in course of Publication, embellished with Portraits, in Elegant small 8vo volumes, price 10s. 6d. each, bound; either of which may be had separately. Vols. I. to IX. are now ready. LIVES OF THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND, FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST, WITH ANECDOTES OF THEIR COURTS; Now first published from Official Records and other Authentic Documents, private as well as public. BY AGNES STRICKLAND. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. "These volumes bave the fascination of a romance united to the integrity of history.". ."-Times. "A most valuable and entertaining work."-Chronicle. "This interesting and well-written work, in which the severe truth of history takes almost the wildness of romance, will constitute a valuable addition to our biographical literature."-Morning Herald. "A valuable contribution to historical knowledge, to young persons especially. It contains a mass of every kind of historical matter of interest, which industry and research could collect. We have derived much entertainment and instruction from the work."-Athenæum. ; "The execution of this work is equal to the conception. Great pains have been taken to make it both interesting and valuable.”— Literary Gazette. “A charming work-full of interest, at once serious and pleasing." -Monsieur Guizot. "This work is written by a lady of considerable learning, indefatigable industry, and careful judgment. All these qualifications for a biographer and an historian she has brought to bear upon the subject of her volumes, and from them has resulted a narrative interesting to all, and more particularly interesting to that portion of the community to whom the more refined researches of literature afford pleasure and instruction. The whole work should be read, and no doubt will be read, by all who are anxious for information. It is a lucid arrangement of facts, derived from authentic sources, exhibiting a combination of industry, learning, judgment, and impartiality, not often met with in biographers of crowned heads."-Times. (Third Notice.) 4 MR. COLBURN'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. MEMOIRS OF LADY HESTER STANHOPE, AS RELATED BY HERSELF, IN CONVERSATIONS WITH HER PHYSICIAN, Comprising her Opinions, and Anecdotes of the most remarkable Persons of her Time. Second Edition, 3 vols. small 8vo, with portraits, &c., price 31s. 6d bound. These memoirs must interest all classes of readers Throughout the whole of the brilliant period of the life of her uncle, Mr. Pitt, Lady Hester Stanhope (who was the partner of his secret counsels) was drawn into daily intercourse with the most remarkable people of the age-statesmen, wits, diplomatists men of letters and science, women of fashion and celebrity, and all the members of the royal family, with whom she was upon terms of familiar intimacy. Among the numerous remarkable personages of whom interesting particulars and anecdotes are given in these volumes will be found the following:-George III, George IV., Queen Caroline, Pitt, For, Canning, Sheridan, the Duke of Wellington, the Marquis of Abercorn, Lords Chatham, Bute, Liverpool, Hawkesbury, Hood, St Asaph, Bridport, Brougham, Palmerston, Carrington, Ebrington, Suffolk, Byron, and Camelford, Sir Edward Sugden, Sir Francis Burdett, Mr. Abercrombie, Walter Scott, Thomas Moore, Beau Brummell, Lady Charlotte Bury, Mrs. Fitzherbert, &c. "These volumes are such as no one who takes them up can easily lay down."-Quarterly Review. SECOND SERIES OF THE STANHOPE MEMOIRS, " COMPRISING THE SEVEN YEARS' TRAVELS OF LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 3 vols. small 8vo, with numerous Illustrations. 31s. 6d. bound. This work is intended to complete the Memoirs of Lady Hester Stanhope.' As the Memoirs' embraced a period of about fifteen years, in which were traced the causes which led to the decline and fall' of her Ladyship's somewhat visionary Empire in the East, the Travels' ! take up her history from the time she quitted England, and, by a faithful narrative of her extraordinary adventures, show the rise and growth of her Oriental greatness. A distinct line may at once be! drawn between this and all other books of travels in the East-for it! boasts of a heroine who marches at the head of Arab tribes through the Syrian Desert-who calls Governors of Cities to her aid while she excavates the earth in search of hidden treasures-who sends Generals with their troops to carry fire and sword into the fearful passes of a ¦ mountainous country to avenge the death of a murdered travellerand who then goes defenceless and unprotected to sit down a sojourner in the midst of them." HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO H.R.H. PRINCE ALBERT. In Seven Volumes, 8vo, price 15s. each, to range with the THE LETTERS AND DISPATCHES OF ADMIRAL LORD VISCOUNT NELSON, EDITED BY SIR HARRIS NICOLAS, G.C.M.G. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 5 "We were rejoiced at the announcement of the intended publication of Lord Nelson's Letters, and we confess that we have not been disappointed by the editor's performance of his task. This collection promises to be the most genuine and true portrait of a great public character which the world has ever seen."-Times. "The Letters of Nelson, will hereafter be the manual of the sailor, as the sister service has found a guide in the Dispatches of the Duke of Wellington. All that was to be expected from the well-known talent of the editor, united to an euthusiasm for his hero, which has carried him triumphantly through the extraordinary labour of investigating and ascertaining every fact in the slightest degree bearing upon his subject, is to be found in this volume, in which, from the beginning to the end, by a continued series of letters, Nelson is made his own historian."-Blackwood's Magazine. Sir Harris Nicolas has imposed a great obligation upon the country by this publication. The collection is a model in its kind. The family that shall want this book must be ungrateful to the memory of Nelson."-Standard. "This publication in its idea and execution, is very honourable to all engaged in it. Nor will it be possible to imagine a nobler national trophy. There is no warrior or statesman in our history, from Alfred downwards, of whom England has so many reasons to be proud, as Nelson. This collection is enriched with Letters hitherto unprinted, to an extent the most sanguine could hardly have looked for."-Examiner. "The Dispatches of Nelson will range side by side with those of Wellington. Englishmen will associate their heroic deeds, and point their sons to these kindred works as the best memorials of their services."Globe. THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S MAXIMS AND OPINIONS; WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION. BY G. H. FRANCIS, ESQ. Second Edition, in 8vo, with Portrait, 12s. bound. "The best book that has been published respecting the Duke of Wellington."-Times. |