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COURT BEAUTIES OF OLD WHITEHALL
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
Cloth, 6s.
A DAZZLING REPROBATE.
A GIRL OF THE MULTITUDE.
THE SITUATIONS OF LADY PATRICIA.
Paper Cover, 1s.; Crown, 2s.
THE LETTERS OF HER MOTHER TO ELIZABETH.
THE GRANDMOTHER'S ADVICE TO ELIZABETH.
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN
Elizabeth Hamilton
Countess of Gramont.
from the picture by Lely.
OLD WHITEHALL
HISTORIETTES OF
THE RESTORATION
BY
W. R. H. TROWBRIDGE
WITH THIRTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN
NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
MCMVI
[All rights reserved.]
TO
ETHEL and HERBERT NICOL
Preface
IF we may believe so eminent an authority as M.Emile Bourgeois, whose "Le Grand Siècle,"is a fascinating proof of his statement, "theage we live in delights in inquiry into the privatelives of the great and into the spirit of societyof the past. It loves to interrogate them directly,so that it may get at the secrets of their passionsand find out their state of mind at differentperiods. This curiosity is not culpable. 'Italmost ceases to be curiosity,' said Voltaire,'when it has epochs and men who attract thegaze of posterity for its object.'"
Such an epoch in English history is parexcellence the Restoration. It is a subject onwhich an immense number of books has beenwritten. Of the eight beautiful women whoseextraordinary careers are described in the followingpages, the names of all are probably moreor less familiar to the reader, while some—suchas "Madame" and the Duchess of Portsmouth—[10]haveprovided several historians with themesthat have elevated them to the proud heightof classical authority. Forneron's "Louise deKéroual" is not only a monumental study of theEnglish Restoration, but a fascinating romanceand a work of real literary merit. And manydistinguished writers, from the spirituelle Madamede La Fayette down to M.