In revising this Publication, it has scarcely been found necessary to
recall a single opinion relative to the subject of the Work. The general
impressions of characters adopted by the Authors have received little
modification from any remarks elicited by the appearance of 'The Wits
and Beaux of Society.'
It is scarcely to be expected that even _our_ descendants will know much
more of the Wits and Beaux of former days than we now do. The chests at
Strawberry Hill are cleared of their contents; Horace Walpole's latest
letters are before us; Pepys and Evelyn have thoroughly dramatized the
days of Charles II.; Lord Hervey's Memoirs have laid bare the darkest
secrets of the Court in which he figures; voluminous memoirs of the less
historic characters among the Wits and Beaux have been published; still
it is possible that some long-disregarded treasury of old letters, like
that in the Gallery at Wotton, may come to light. From that precious
deposit a housemaid--blotted for ever be her name from memory's
page--was purloining sheets of yellow paper, with antiquated writing on
them, to light her fires with, when the late William Upcott came to the
rescue, and saved Evelyn's 'Diary' for a grateful world. It is _just_
possible that such a discovery may again be made, and that the doings of
George Villiers, or the exile life of Wharton, or the inmost thoughts of
other Wits and Beaux may be made to appear in clearer lights than
heretofore; but it is much more likely that the popular opinions about
these witty, worthless men are substantially true.
All that has been collected, therefore, to form this work--and, as in
the 'Queens of Society,' every known source has been consulted--assumes
a sterling value as being collected; and, should hereafter fresh
materials be disinterred from any old library closet in the homes of
some one descendant of our heroes, advantage will be gladly taken to
improve, correct, and complete the lives.
One thing must, in justice, be said: if they have been written freely,
fearlessly, they have been written without passion or prejudice. The
writers, though not _quite_ of the stamp of persons who would never have
'dared to address' any of the subjects of their biography, 'save with
courtesy and obeisance,' have no wish to 'trample on the graves' of such
very amusing personages as the 'Wits and Beaux of Society.' They have
even been lenient to their memory, hailing every good trait gladly, and
pointing out with no unsparing hand redeeming virtues; and it cannot
certainly be said, in this instance, that the good has been 'interred
with the bones' of the personages herein described, although the evil
men do, 'will live after them.'
But whilst a biographer is bound to give the fair as well as the dark
side of his subject, he has still to remember that biography is a trust,
and that it should not be an eulogium. It is his duty to reflect that in
many instances it must be regarded even as a warning.
The moral conclusions of these lives of 'Wits and Beaux' are, it is
admitted, just: vice is censured; folly rebuked; ungentlemanly conduct,
even in a beau of the highest polish, exposed; irreligion finds no
toleration under gentle names--heartlessness no palliation from its
being the way of the world. There is here no separate code allowed for
men who live in the world, and for those who live out of it. The task of
pourtraying such characters as the 'Wits and Beaux of Society' is a
responsible one, and does not involve the mere attempt to amuse, or the
mere desire to abuse, but requires truth and discrimination; as
embracing just or unjust views of such characters, it may do much harm
or much good. Nevertheless, in spite of these obvious considerations
there do exist worthy persons, even in the present day, so unreasonable
as to take offence at the revival of old stories anent their defunct
grandfathers, though those very stories were circulated by accredited
writers employed by the families themselves. Some individuals are
scandalized when a man who was habitually drunk, is called a drunkard;
and ears polite cannot bear the application of plain names to well-known
delinquencies.
There is something foolish, but respectably foolish, in this wish to
shut out light which has been streaming for years over these old tombs
and memories. The flowers that are cast on such graves cannot, however,
cause us to forget the corruption within and underneath. In
consideration, nevertheless, of a pardonable weakness, all expressions
that can give pain, or which have been said to give pain, have been, in
this Second Edition, omitted; and whenever a mis-statement has crept in,
care has been taken to amend the error.