Produced by Chris Curnow, Charlie Howard, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) [Illustration: THE PRINCESS VICTORIA IN 1830 (From the Picture by RICHARD WESTALL, R.A., at Windsor Castle.)] FIFTY YEARS AGO BY WALTER BESANT AUTHOR OF ‘ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN’ ETC. [Illustration] _PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED_ NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE BY WALTER BESANT. ALL IN A GARDEN FAIR. 4to, Paper, 20 cents. DOROTHY FORSTER. 4to, Paper, 20 cents. FIFTY YEARS AGO. 8vo, Cloth. (_Just Published._) HERR PAULUS. 8vo, Paper, 35 cents. KATHERINE REGINA. 4to, Paper, 15 cents. LIFE OF COLIGNY. 32mo, Paper, 25 cents. SELF OR BEARER. 4to, Paper, 15 cts. THE WORLD WENT VERY WELL THEN. Illustrated. 4to, Paper, 25 cents. THE CHILDREN OF GIBEON. 4to, Paper, 20 cents. THE HOLY ROSE. 4to, Paper, 20 cents. TO CALL HER MINE. Illustrated. 4to, Paper, 20 cents. UNCLE JACK AND OTHER STORIES. 12mo, Paper, 25 cents. By WALTER BESANT AND JAMES RICE. ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN. 4to, Paper, 20 cents. BY CELIA’S ARBOR. Illustrated. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents. SHEPHERDS ALL AND MAIDENS FAIR. 32mo, Paper, 25 cents. “SO THEY WERE MARRIED.” Illustrated. 4to, Paper, 20 cents. SWEET NELLY, MY HEART’S DELIGHT. 4to, Paper, 10 cents. THE CHAPLAIN OF THE FLEET. 4to, Paper, 20 cents. THE CAPTAIN’S ROOM. 4to, Paper, 10 cents. THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY. 8vo, Paper, 40 cents. ’TWAS IN TRAFALGAR’S BAY. 32mo, Paper, 20 cents. WHEN THE SHIP COMES HOME. 32mo, Paper, 25 cents. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. ☛ _Any of the above works will be sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States or Canada, on receipt of the price._ PREFACE. It has been my desire in the following pages to present a picture of society in this country as it was when the Queen ascended the throne. The book is an enlargement of a paper originally contributed to ‘The Graphic.’ I have written several additional chapters, and have revised all the rest. The chapter on Law and Justice has been written for this volume by my friend Mr. W. Morris Colles, of the Inner Temple. I beg to record my best thanks to that gentleman for his important contribution. I have not seen in any of the literature called forth by the happy event of last year any books or papers which cover the exact ground of this compilation. There are histories of progress and advancement; there are contrasts; but there has not been offered anywhere, to my knowledge, a picture of life, manners, and society as they were fifty years ago.