THE LIFE AND TIMES OF WILLIAM IV. INCLUDING A VIEW OF SOCIAL LIFE AND BY PERCY FITZGERALD, M.A., F.S.A., AUTHOR OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE THE FOURTH," "THE LIFE OF GARRICK," "A NEW HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE," IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: TINSLEY BROTHERS, 8, CATHERINE STREET, STRAND, W.C. 1884. PREFACE. As the political history of the reign of William IV. has been so fully dealt with by political writers-the Reform Bill having even found a historian of its own-the writer of the following Memoir has not proposed to deal with such matter, save under certain conditions, viz., where the King himself was directly connected with such incidents and figured as a leading performer. Keeping this principle in view, I have shown what part he took in all the fitful changes, and even intrigues, which attended the course of the great Reform Bill, including the various Court, or "backstairs," influences and plots, which were brought to bear on the royal mind. These, though alluded to by various writers of the time, will be new and interesting to most readers. |