Lady Morgan bequeathed her papers
and Journals to me, with a view to their publication. The collection was large, as she had
preserved nearly every line written to her—from the letters of princes and statesmen, the
compliments of poets, of exiles and heroes, down to the petitions of weavers, chimney sweeps
and servant girls—even the invitations sent her to dinner, and the address cards left at
her door. Many of these trifles of the day have no value now; a hundred years hence, if kept
together, they may serve to illustrate, with singular brightness and detail, the domestic life
of a woman of society in the reign of Victoria. My duty
in the matter of this publication was clear enough. Lady Morgan had not
only proposed to write her own Memoirs, but had made a considerable progress in her
| iv | PREFACE. |
In this preparation of her papers, Lady Morgan had received a great deal of valuable assistance from Miss Jewsbury; more than once in her conversations with me she had referred with satisfaction to this assistance, and even expressed a desire, that after her death, Miss Jewsbury should complete the arrangement of her papers. My own choice would have led me, independently, to the quarter pointed out by Lady Morgan, and I have pleasure in bearing witness to the fact that Miss Jewsbury undertook the task with alacrity, glad of the opportunity of working out in some degree her ideas of Lady Morgan’s character and work.
In this labour many eager hands have joined. The services of Lady Morgan’s nieces, Mrs. Inwood Jones, and Mrs. Geale, have been constant and indispensable.
As Lady Morgan’s literary
executor, I have thought this explanation due to the reader. In the credit
| PREFACE. | v |
In the new edition many errors of the press, especially in the names and quotations, have been corrected. Lady Morgan’s writing, like Counsellor Bell’s “third hand,” was one that neither she nor anybody else could read. If errors have still escaped notice, it is hoped they may be found few in number and of little importance.
