Livery or lace, the self-same circle, run;
The same the passion, end and means the same--
Dick and his Lordship differ but in name.'





IN TWO VOLUMES.--VOL. I.



TO HIS GRACE

The Duke of Wellington, K.G.
THIS WORK IS DEDICATED,
WITH PERMISSION,
BY HIS GRACE'S MOST DEVOTED SERVANT

THE AUTHOR.




PREFACE.


To the readers of the present generation much of this book will,
doubtless, seem incredible. Still it is a book of facts--a
section of our social history, which is, I think, worth writing,