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