Last of the Barons | Page 9

actual history of the
period, and to bring into fuller display than general History itself has
done the characters of the principal personages of the time, the motives
by which they were probably actuated, the state of parties, the condition
of the people, and the great social interests which were involved in
what, regarded imperfectly, appear but the feuds of rival factions.
"The Last of the Barons" has been by many esteemed the best of the
Author's romances; and perhaps in the portraiture of actual character,
and the grouping of the various interests and agencies of the time, it
may have produced effects which render it more vigorous and lifelike
than any of the other attempts in romance by the same hand.
It will be observed that the purely imaginary characters introduced are
very few; and, however prominent they may appear, still, in order not
to interfere with the genuine passions and events of history, they are
represented as the passive sufferers, not the active agents, of the real
events. Of these imaginary characters, the most successful is Adam
Warner, the philosopher in advance of his age; indeed, as an ideal
portrait, I look upon it as the most original in conception, and the most
finished in execution, of any to be found in my numerous prose works,
"Zanoni" alone excepted.
For the rest, I venture to think that the general reader will obtain from
these pages a better notion of the important age, characterized by the
decline of the feudal system, and immediately preceding that great
change in society which we usually date from the accession of Henry
VII., than he could otherwise gather, without wading through a vast
mass of neglected chronicles and antiquarian dissertations.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BOOK I
THE ADVENTURES OF MASTER MARMADUKE NEVILE

CHAPTER
I The Pastime-ground of old Cockaigne II The Broken Gittern III The
Trader and the Gentle; or, the Changing Generation IV Ill fares the

Country Mouse in the Traps of Town V Weal to the Idler, Woe to the
Workman VI Master Marmaduke Nevile fears for the Spiritual Weal of
his Host and Hostess VII There is a Rod for the Back of every Fool
who would be Wiser than his Generation
BOOK II
THE KING'S COURT

CHAPTER
I Earl Warwick the King-maker II King Edward the Fourth III The
Antechamber
BOOK III
IN WHICH THE HISTORY PASSES FROM THE KING'S COURT
TO THE STUDENT'S CELL, AND RELATES THE PERILS THAT
BEFELL A PHILOSOPHER FOR MEDDLING WITH THE
AFFAIRS OF THE WORLD

CHAPTER
I The Solitary Sage and the Solitary Maid II Master Adam Warner
grows a Miser, and behaves Shamefully III A Strange Visitor--All Ages
of the World breed World- Betters IV Lord Hastings V Master Adam
Warner and King Henry the Sixth VI How, on leaving King Log,
Foolish Wisdom runs a-muck on King Stork VII My Lady Duchess's
Opinion of the Utility of Master Warner's Invention, and her esteem for
its Explosion VIII The Old Woman talks of Sorrows, the Young
Woman dreams of Love; the Courtier flies from Present Power to
Remembrances of Past Hopes, and the World-Bettered opens Utopia,
with a View of the Gibbet for the Silly Sage he has seduced into his
Schemes,--so, ever and evermore, runs the World away IX How the

Destructive Organ of Prince Richard promises Goodly Development
BOOK IV
INTRIGUES OF THE COURT OF EDWARD IV

CHAPTER
I Margaret of Anjou II In which are laid Open to the Reader the
Character of Edward the Fourth and that of his Court, with the
Machinations of the Woodvilles against the Earl of Warwick III
Wherein Master Nicholas Alwyn visits the Court, and there learns
Matter of which the Acute Reader will judge for himself IV Exhibiting
the Benefits which Royal Patronage confers on Genius,--also the Early
Loves of the Lord Hastings; with other Matters Edifying and
Delectable V The Woodville Intrigue prospers--Montagu confers with
Hastings, visits the Archbishop of York, and is met on the Road by a
strange Personage VI The Arrival of the Count de la Roche, and the
various Excitement produced on many Personages by that Event VII
The Renowned Combat between Sir Anthony Woodville and the
Bastard of Burgundy VIII How the Bastard of Burgundy prospered
more in his Policy than With the Pole-axe--and how King Edward
holds his Summer Chase in the Fair Groves of Shene IX The Great
Actor returns to fill the Stage X How the Great Lords come to the
King-maker, and with what Proffers
BOOK V
THE LAST OF THE BARONS IN HIS FATHERS HALLS

CHAPTER
I Rural England in the Middle Ages--Noble Visitors seek the Castle Of
Middleham II Councils and Musings III The Sisters IV The Destrier

BOOK VI
WHEREIN ARE OPENED SOME GLIMPSES OF THE FATE
BELOW