Chapter I: Front Matter

A Family Consultation.--A Priest, and an Era in Life

CHAPTER III.
A Change in Conduct and in Character: our evil Passions will some-
times produce good Effects; and on the contrary, an Alteration for
the better in Manners will, not unfrequently, have amongst its
Causes a little Corruption of Mind; for the Feelings are so blended
that, in suppressing those disagreeable to others, we often suppress
those which are amiable in themselves

CHAPTER IV.
A Contest of Art and a League of Friendship.--Two Characters in
mutual Ignorance of each other, and the Reader no wiser than
either of them

CHAPTER V.
Rural Hospitality.--An extraordinary Guest.--A Fine Gentleman is
not necessarily a Fool

CHAPTER VI.
A Dialogue, which might be dull if it were longer

CHAPTER VII.
A Change of Prospects.--A new Insight into the Character of the Hero.
--A Conference between two Brothers

CHAPTER VIII.
First Love

CHAPTER IX.
A Discovery and a Departure

CHAPTER X.
A very short Chapter,--containing a Valet

CHAPTER XI.
The Hero acquits himself honourably as a Coxcomb.--A Fine Lady of
the Eighteenth Century, and a fashionable Dialogue; the Substance
of fashionable Dialogue being in all Centuries the same

CHAPTER XII.
The Abbe’s Return.--A Sword, and a Soliloquy

CHAPTER XIII.
A mysterious Letter.-A Duel.--The Departure of one of the Family

CHAPTER XIV.
Being a Chapter of Trifles

CHAPTER XV.
The Mother and Son.--Virtue should be the Sovereign of the Feelings,
not their Destroyer

Book II.

CHAPTER I.
The Hero in London.--Pleasure is often the shortest, as it is the
earliest road to Wisdom, and we may say of the World what Zeal-of-
the-Land-Busy says of the Pig-Booth, “We escape so much of the
other Vanities by our early Entering”

CHAPTER II.
Gay Scenes and Conversations.--The New Exchange and the Puppet-
Show.--The Actor, the Sexton, and the Beauty

CHAPTER III.
More Lions

CHAPTER IV.
An intellectual Adventure

CHAPTER V.
The Beau in his Den, and a Philosopher discovered

CHAPTER VI.
A universal Genius.--Pericles turned Barber.--Names of Beauties in
171-.--The Toasts of the Kit-Cat Club

CHAPTER VII.
A Dialogue of Sentiment succeeded by the Sketch of a Character, in
whose Eyes Sentiment was to Wise Men what Religion is to Fools;
namely, a Subject of Ridicule

CHAPTER VIII.
Lightly won, lightly lost.--A Dialogue of equal Instruction and
Amusement.--A Visit to Sir Godfrey Kneller

CHAPTER IX.
A Development of Character, and a long Letter; a Chapter, on the
whole, more important than it seems

CHAPTER X.
Being a short Chapter, containing a most important Event

CHAPTER XI.
Containing more than any other Chapter in the Second Book of this
History

Book III.

CHAPTER I.
Wherein the History makes great Progress and is marked by one
important Event in Human Life

CHAPTER II.
Love; Parting; a Death-Bed.--After all human Nature is a beautiful
Fabric; and even its Imperfections are not odious to him who has
studied the Science of its Architecture, and formed a reverent
Estimate of its Creator

CHAPTER III.
A great Change of Prospects

CHAPTER IV.
An Episode.--The Son of the Greatest Man who (one only excepted)
_ever rose to a Throne_, but by no means of the Greatest Man (save
one) _who ever existed_

CHAPTER V.
In which the Hero shows Decision on more Points than one.--More of
Isora’s Character is developed

CHAPTER VI.
An Unexpected Meeting.--Conjecture and Anticipation

CHAPTER VII.
The Events of a Single Night.--Moments make the Hues in which
Years are coloured

Book IV.

CHAPTER I.
A Re-entrance into Life through the Ebon Gate, Affliction

CHAPTER II.
Ambitious Projects

CHAPTER III.

The real Actors Spectators to the false ones

CHAPTER IV.
Paris.--A Female Politician, and an Ecclesiastical One.--Sundry other
Matters

CHAPTER V.
A Meeting of Wits.--Conversation gone out to Supper in her Dress of
Velvet and Jewels

CHAPTER VI.
A Court, Courtiers, and a King

CHAPTER VII.
Reflections.--A Soiree.--The Appearance of one important in the
History.--A Conversation with Madame de Balzac highly satisfactory
and cheering.--A Rencontre with a curious old Soldier.--
The Extinction of a once great Luminary

CHAPTER VIII.
In which there is Reason to fear that Princes are not invariably free
from Human Peccadilloes

CHAPTER IX.
A Prince, an Audience, and a Secret Embassy

CHAPTER X.
Royal Exertions for the Good of the People

CHAPTER XI.
An Interview

Book V.

CHAPTER I.
A Portrait

CHAPTER II.
The Entrance into Petersburg.--A Rencontre with an inquisitive and
mysterious Stranger.--Nothing like Travel

CHAPTER III.
The Czar.--The Czarina.--A Feast at a Russian Nobleman’s

CHAPTER IV.
Conversations with the Czar.--If Cromwell was the greatest Man
(Caesar excepted) who ever _rose_ to the Supreme Power, Peter was
the greatest Man ever _born_ to it

CHAPTER V.
Return to Paris.--Interview with Bolingbroke.--A gallant Adventure.
--Affair with Dubois.--Public Life is a Drama, in which private
Vices generally play the Part of the Scene-shifters

CHAPTER VI.
A long Interval of Years.--A Change of Mind and its Causes

Book VI.

CHAPTER I.
The Retreat

CHAPTER II.
The Victory

CHAPTER III.
The Hermit of the Well

CHAPTER IV.
The Solution of many Mysteries.--A dark View of the Life and Nature
of Man

CHAPTER V.
In which the History makes a great Stride towards the final Catastrophe.
--The Return to England, and the Visit to a Devotee

CHAPTER VI.
The Retreat of a celebrated Man, and a Visit to a great Poet

CHAPTER VII.
The Plot approaches its _Denouement_

CHAPTER VIII.
The Catastrophe

CONCLUSION

DEVEREUX.