One of the chief pleas which was urged on me, and which encouraged me to write the following pages, was the fact that I had been on terms of close and tender friendship with many great men, any mention of whom would be welcome to my readers. But it is one thing to appreciate and remember the delightful companionship of such eminent friends as I may enumerate in these pages, and another to convey to others the faintest idea of their individuality.

During the course of writing I have hit upon what appeared to me a novel expedient. After carrying on my narrative to a certain point, I have inserted detached chapters, treating of people and places which are calculated in my opinion to interest the general reader, and that without much reference to dates; indeed, as far as those terrible stumbling-blocks are concerned, I plead guilty in many cases to inaccuracy, offering as my excuse that I have never kept a continuous journal, but rather have written a few spasmodic pages at intervals. One more excuse, and I have done. In my blindness, I have been helped by more than one kind and patient secretary, but I have sadly missed the power of myself looking over the manuscript and detecting fault in style or frequent tautology. For all these shortcomings I humbly beg pardon, and earnestly desire to be forgiven.

“VANESSA.”

CONTENTS

PAGE
EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION[ix]
PREFACE[xxi]
CHAP.
I.BIRTH, PARENTAGE AND FAMILY[1]
II.LIFE IN A DOCKYARD—FRIENDS, FAVOURITES AND RETAINERS[15]
III.MY FIRST PLAY—MARRIAGE OF THE DUKE OF CLARENCE—DEPARTURE FOR SHEERNESS[25]
IV.EARLY DRAMATIC RECOLLECTIONS—RESIDENCE AT HAMPTON COURT[33]
V.LIFE AT HAMPTON COURT[41]
VI.OUR EXTRA HOMES[51]
VII.MY GRANDMOTHER’S MAID[64]
VIII.OUR HOUSEHOLD[73]
IX.BRIGHTON—SCHOOLDAYS[80]
X.VISITS IN CUMBERLAND AND LEICESTERSHIRE—ACCESSION OF WILLIAM IV.[92]
XI.FIRST CONTINENTAL TRAVELS—TURIN AND GENOA[103]
XII.SUMMER AT THE BATHS OF LUCCA[115]
XIII.SHORT SOJOURN IN FLORENCE[125]
XIV.SUMMER AT NAPLES[134]
XV.PISA AND FLORENCE[145]
XVI.RETURN TO ENGLAND—ACCESSION OF QUEEN VICTORIA—HER CORONATION[158]
XVII.MILLARD’S HILL—TENBY—CHARLES YOUNG AND A COURT BALL[163]
XVIII.1844. TRIP TO THE CHANNEL ISLANDS[170]
XIX.WHITTLEBURY[179]
XX.MUNICH—SECOND VISIT TO ITALY[187]
XXI.ARRIVAL IN ROME, 1846—OCTOBER FESTIVALS AND “POSSESSO”[194]
XXII.SUMMER OF 1847—FLORENCE, VILLA CAREGGI[201]
XXIII.RESIDENCE IN FLORENCE—CHARLES LEVER—REVOLUTION, AND THE BROWNINGS[210]
XXIV.LAST DAYS AT FLORENCE—RETURN TO ENGLAND—MILLARD’S HILL, LONDON, 1848[221]
XXV.ROCKINGHAM CASTLE—CHARLES DICKENS[229]
XXVI.PROTECTIONIST PARTY AT BURGHLEY[244]
XXVII.ALTHORP[253]

SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER

WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR[262]
VISCOUNT STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE[265]
CARLYLE[267]
THE GROVE[269]
HINCHINGBROOKE[272]
OSSINGTON[278]
ASHRIDGE[279]
WREST PARK[281]