_SOCIAL ENGLAND._ NEW ILLUSTRATED BOOKS. A COLONIAL TRAMP: Travels and Adventures in Australia and New Guinea. By HUME NISBET. Profusely Illustrated by the Author. 2 vols., demy 8vo. BRAYHARD: The Strange Adventures of One Ass and Seven Champions. By F. M. ALLEN. Illustrated by HARRY FURNISS. Crown 8vo, 6s. _THE ÉDITION DE LUXE OF_ AS IN A LOOKING GLASS. By F. C. PHILIPS. Illustrated by G. DU MAURIER. Extra crown quarto, 31s. 6d. _MRS. PANTON'S HOUSEHOLD MANUALS._ FROM KITCHEN TO GARRET. Crown 8vo, 6s. NOOKS AND CORNERS. Crown 8vo, 6s. THE FLOATING PRINCE, and other Fairy Tales. By the Author of "Rudder Grange." With Forty Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 6s. PERFERVID: The Career of Ninian Jameison. By JOHN DAVIDSON. Illustrated by HARRY FURNISS. Crown 8vo, 6s. PICTURESQUE LONDON. By PERCY FITZGERALD. With about 100 Illustrations. Extra crown 4to. SOCIAL ENGLAND UNDER THE REGENCY. By JOHN ASHTON. Profusely Illustrated. 2 vols., demy 8vo, 30s. UP AND DOWN: Sketches of Travel. By G. MACQUOID. Illustrated by THOS. R. MACQUOID. Demy 8vo, 10s. 6d. MEMORIES OF THE MONTH. By HUME NISBET. With Photogravure Frontispiece, twelve whole-page, and numerous smaller Illustrations. Foolscap 4to, 21s. TING-A-LING TALES. By FRANK R. STOCKTON. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. AN ARTIST'S TOUR IN NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA AND IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. By B. KROUPA. Profusely Illustrated by the Author. Royal 8vo, 21s. FOLK AND FAIRY TALES. By Mrs. BURTON HARRISON. With 24 whole-page Illustrations by WALTER CRANE. Crown 8vo, 6s. WARD AND DOWNEY, PUBLISHERS, LONDON. SOCIAL ENGLAND UNDER _THE REGENCY_. BY JOHN ASHTON, AUTHOR OF "SOCIAL LIFE IN THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE," "OLD TIMES," "DAWN OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY," ETC. _WITH 90 ILLUSTRATIONS._ IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. London: WARD AND DOWNEY, 12, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. MDCCCXC. PREFACE. Certainly, it is not the least part of an Author's reward, for all his pains and trouble, to find that the Public appreciates his efforts, and purchases, and reads his books. This, I am happy to say, was specially the case with one of mine, "The Dawn of the Nineteenth Century." In it I wrote of Social England in the first decade of the century, leaving off at a time when George III. was hopelessly incompetent to govern, and a Regency was in progress of establishment. The favour which the Public bestowed upon this book emboldens me to continue it, and sketch the men and manners of the Regency. Most books of this class deal mainly with the great ones of the land, but I have only done so where necessary to illustrate the history of the times, my aim being more to delineate the social condition of England, and her people; and this work will be found perfectly reliable as history, nothing being taken at second hand, but all compiled, even down to the illustrations, from original and contemporaneous authorities. JOHN ASHTON.