HISTORICAL CHARACTERS
TALLEYRAND
HISTORICAL CHARACTERS
| MACKINTOSH | TALLEYRAND |
| CANNING | COBBETT |
| PEEL | |
BY
SIR HENRY LYTTON BULWER
(LORD DALLING)
London
MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1900
All rights reserved
First Edition, in 2 vols., demy 8vo, 30s., November 1867.Second Edition, in 2 vols., demy 8vo, 30s., March 1868. ThirdEdition, in one volume, crown 8vo, 6s., December 1869. FourthEdition, in which was included, for the first time, the Life of SirRobert Peel, in one volume, crown 8vo, 6s., December 1875.Transferred to Macmillan and Co., Ltd., August 1898. ReprintedMay 1900.
TO LORD LYTTON.
My dear Edward,
The idea of this work, which I dedicate to you intestimony of the affection and friendship which havealways united us, was conceived many years ago. Iwished to give some general idea of modern history, fromthe period of the French Revolution of 1789 down to ourown times, in a series of personal sketches. In thesesketches I was disposed to select types of particularcharacters, thinking that in this way it is easier topaint with force and clearness both an individual andan epoch. The outlines of Talleyrand, Cobbett, andothers, were then imperfectly traced; and Canning andMackintosh have been little altered.
The manuscript, however, was laid aside amidst thelabours of an active professional career, and only thoughtof since complete leisure created the wish for some employment.It was then that I resumed my task.
I need not say that the portraits I give here are but afew of those I commenced, but the constant change ofresidence, rendered necessary by the state of health inwhich I left Constantinople, interfered with the completionof my design, and added to the defects which,under any circumstances, would have been found in thefollowing pages.
Ever yours affectionately,
H. L. Bulwer.
13, Rue Royale, Paris,
Oct 10, 1867.
PREFACE TO THIS NEW EDITION.
The sale which this work has had in its original form hasinduced my publisher to recommend a cheaper and morepopular one; and I myself gladly seize the opportunityof correcting some of the errors in print and expressionwhich, though gradually diminished in preceding