Public-domain ebook
by Thomson, A. T., Mrs.; Wharton, Philip
Language: en1,247 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Biographies·History - British
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #10797.
The work is a sprawling miscellany of anecdotes, sketches and commentary on eighteenth‑century British society, assembled by A. T. Thomson and Philip Wharton. It opens with a rapid succession of titled fragments, “The ‘Wise Wit.’, Oddities of the Father,” “Verse‑making at Winchester,” “The Old Scottish Supper,” “Sydney Smith’s Cheerfulness,” “Strawberry Hill from the Thames,” “Horace Walpole’s Classification of Society”, each signalling a brief vignette on a person, place or custom. The opening pages therefore function as a catalogue of the era’s wits, beaux and courtiers, offering glimpses of courtly rituals, literary clubs, country life and the personalities that animated them, all drawn from the same source material that underlies the book’s subjects of British court, social customs and eighteenth‑century socialites.
The tone is that of a learned yet conversational antiquarian, echoing the genteel prose of the period’s essayists and memoirists. The style mixes dry factual enumeration with occasional wry observation, reflecting the authors’ intent to preserve the original voice of figures such as Horace Walpole while providing modern readers with contextual notes. Readers who relish detailed social history, enjoy the wit of eighteenth‑century salon culture, or have an interest in the personalities behind the Georgian court will find this collection rewarding, as it offers both scholarly insight and the flavor of the age’s genteel repartee.
The opening · free to read
SYDNEY SMITH.
The 'Wise Wit.'--Oddities of the Father.--Verse-making at Winchester.-- Curate Life on Salisbury Plain.--Old Edinburgh.--Its Social and Architectural Features.--Making Love Metaphysically.--The Old Scottish Supper.--The Men of Mark passing away.--The Band of Young Spirits.-- Brougham's Early Tenacity.--Fitting up Conversations.--'Old School' Ceremonies.--The Speculative Society.--A Brilliant Set.--Sydney's Opinion of his Friends.--Holland House.--Preacher at the 'Foundling.'--Sydney's 'Grammar of Life.'--The Picture Mania.--A Living Comes at Last.--The Wit's Ministry.--The Parsonage House at Foston-le-Clay.--Country Quiet.-- The Universal Scratcher.--Country Life and Country Prejudice.--The Genial Magistrate.--Glimpse of Edinburgh Society.--Mrs. Grant of Laggan.-- A Pension Difficulty.--Jeffrey and Cockburn.--Craigcrook.--Sydney Smith's Cheerfulness.--His Rheumatic Armour.--No Bishopric.--Becomes Canon of St. Paul's.--Anecdotes of Lord Dudley.--A Sharp Reproof.-- Sydney's Classification of Society.--Last Strokes of Humour.
GEORGE BUBB DODINGTON, LORD MELCOMBE.
A Dinner-giving lordly Poet.--A Misfortune for a Man of Society.-- Brandenburgh House.--'The Diversions of the Morning.'--Johnson's Opinion of Foote.--Churchill and 'The Rosciad.'--Personal Ridicule in its Proper Light.--Wild Specimen of the Poet.--Walpole on Dodington's 'Diary.'-- The best Commentary on a Man's Life.--Leicester House.--Grace Boyle.-- Elegant Modes of passing Time.--A sad Day.--What does Dodington come here for?--The Veteran Wit, Beau, and Politician.--'Defend us from our Executors and Editors.'
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