[Illustration]

MEMOIRS

OF THE

Count Du BEAUVAL,

INCLUDING

Some curious PARTICULARS

Relating to the DUKES of

Wharton and Ormond,

During their Exiles.

WITH

ANECDOTES of several other Illustrious
and Unfortunate Noblemen of the present Age.

Translated from the French of the Marquis D’ARGENS, Author of The Jewish Letters.

By Mr. DERRICK.

LONDON:

Printed for M. COOPER, at the Globe in PaterNoster-Row.

M.DCC.LIV.

PREFACE.

The Ground-work of Romances, till of late Years, has been a Series of Actions, few of which, ever existed but in the Mind of the Author; to support which, with proper Spirit, a strong picturesque Fancy, and a nervous poetical Diction, were necessary.  When these great Essentials were wanting, the Narration became cold, insipid, and disagreeable.

The principal Hero was generally one who fac’d every Danger, without any Reflection, for it was always beneath him to think; it was a sufficient Motive of persisting, if there seem’d Peril; conquering Giants, and dissolving Enchantments, were as easy to him as riding.  He commonly sets out deeply in Love; his Mistress is a Virgin, he loses her in the Beginning of the Book, thro’ the Spite or Craft of some malicious Necromancer, pursues her thro’ a large Folio Volume of Incredibility, and finds her, indisputably, at the End of it, like try’d Gold, still more charming, from having pass’d the Fire Ordeal of Temptation.

Amusement and Instruction were the Intent of these Sort of Writings; the former they always fulfill’d, and if they sometimes fail’d in the latter, it was because the Objects they conjur’d up to Fancy, were merely intellectual Ideas, consequently not capable of impressing so deeply as those which are to be met with in the Bustle of Life.

Hence those, whose Genius led them to cultivate this Sort of writing, have been induc’d to examine amongst such Scenes as are daily found to move beneath their Inspection.  On this Plan are founded the Writings of the celebrated Mons. MARIVAUX, and the Performances of the ingenious Mr.  FIELDING; each of whom are allow’d to be excellent in their different Nations.

The Marquis D’ARGENS, sensible of the Advantages accruing from Works of this Kind, was not satisfied with barely copying the Accidents, but has also united with them the real Names of Persons, who have been remarkable in Life; conscious that we pay a more strict Attention to the Occurrences that have befallen those who enter within the Compass of our Acquaintance, or Knowledge, and if a Moral ensues from the Relation, it is more firmly rooted in the Mind, than when it is to be deduced from either Manners or Men, with whom we are entirely unacquainted.