The History of Henry Esmond

The History of Henry Esmond

By William Makepeace Thackeray.

Table of Contents

1. Titlepage
2. Imprint
3. Dedication
4. Preface
5. The History of Henry Esmond
   1. Book I: The Early Youth of Henry Esmond, Up to the Time of His Leaving Trinity College, in Cambridge
      1. I: An Account of the Family of Esmond of Castlewood Hall
      2. II: Relates How Francis, Fourth Viscount, Arrives at Castlewood
      3. III: Whither in the Time of Thomas, Third Viscount, I Had Preceded Him as Page to Isabella
      4. IV: I Am Placed Under a Popish Priest and Bred to That Religion—Viscountess Castlewood
      5. V: My Superiors Are Engaged in Plots for the Restoration of King James II
      6. VI: The Issue of the Plots—The Death of Thomas, Third Viscount of Castlewood; and the Imprisonment of His Viscountess
      7. VII: I Am Left at Castlewood an Orphan, and Find Most Kind Protectors There
      8. VIII: After Good Fortune Comes Evil
      9. IX: I Have the Smallpox, and Prepare to Leave Castlewood
      10. X: I Go to Cambridge, and Do but Little Good There
      11. XI: I Come Home for a Holiday to Castlewood, and Find a Skeleton in the House
      12. XII: My Lord Mohun Comes Among Us for No Good
      13. XIII: My Lord Leaves Us and His Evil Behind Him
      14. XIV: We Ride After Him to London
   2. Book II: Contains Mr. Esmond’s Military Life, and Other Matters Appertaining to the Esmond Family
      1. I: I Am in Prison, and Visited, but Not Consoled There
      2. II: I Come to the End of My Captivity, but Not of My Trouble
      3. III: I Take the Queen’s Pay in Quin’s Regiment
      4. IV: Recapitulations
      5. V: I Go on the Vigo Bay Expedition, Taste Saltwater and Smell Powder
      6. VI: The 29th December
      7. VII: I Am Made Welcome at Walcote
      8. VIII: Family Talk
      9. IX: I Make the Campaign of 1704
      10. X: An Old Story About a Fool and a Woman
      11. XI: The Famous Mr. Joseph Addison
      12. XII: I Get a Company in the Campaign of 1706
      13. XIII: I Meet an Old Acquaintance in Flanders, and Find My Mother’s Grave and My Own Cradle There
      14. XIV: The Campaign of 1707, 1708
      15. XV: General Webb Wins the Battle of Wynendael
   3. Book III: Containing the End of Mr. Esmond’s Adventures in England
      1. I: I Come to an End of My Battles and Bruises
      2. II: I Go Home, and Harp on the Old String
      3. III: A Paper Out of the Spectator
      4. IV: Beatrix’s New Suitor
      5. V: Mohun Appears for the Last Time in This History
      6. VI: Poor Beatrix
      7. VII: I Visit Castlewood Once More
      8. VIII: I Travel to France and Bring Home a Portrait of Rigaud
      9. IX: The Original of the Portrait Comes to England
      10. X: We Entertain a Very Distinguished Guest at Kensington
      11. XI: Our Guest Quits Us as Not Being Hospitable Enough
      12. XII: A Great Scheme, and Who Balked It
      13. XIII: August 1st, 1714
6. Endnotes
7. Colophon
8. Uncopyright

Imprint

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To the Right Honorable William Bingham, Lord Ashburton.

My Dear Lord,

The writer of a book which copies the manners and language of Queen Anne’s time, must not omit the Dedication to the Patron; and I ask leave to inscribe this volume to your Lordship, for the sake of the great kindness and friendship which I owe to you and yours.

My volume will reach you when the Author is on his voyage to a country where your name is as well known as here. Wherever I am, I shall gratefully regard you; and shall not be the less welcomed in America because I am,

Your obliged friend and servant,

W. M. Thackeray.

London, October 18, 1852.

Preface

The Esmonds of Virginia

The estate of Castlewood, in Virginia, which was given to our ancestors by King Charles the First, as some return for the sacrifices made in his Majesty’s cause by the Esmond family, lies in Westmoreland county, between the rivers Potomac and Rappahannock, and was once as great as an English Principality, though in the early times its revenues were but small. Indeed, for near eighty years after our forefathers possessed them, our plantations were in the hands of factors, who enriched themselves one after another, though a few scores of hogsheads of tobacco were all the produce that, for long after the Restoration, our family received from their Virginian estates.

My dear and honored father, Colonel Henry Esmond, whose history, written by himself, is contained in the accompanying volume, came to Virginia in the year 1718, built his house of Castlewood, and here permanently settled.