Had the contents of her letters about London society become known at the time, nearly every man's and all women's hands would have been against her.

She had, in fact, little that was kind to say about people; when she had, she usually refrained from mentioning it.
In this work Lady Mary's letters, either whole or in part, are given only in so far as they have biographical or historical value.

At the same time I have, wherever possible, allowed Lady Mary to tell her story, or to give her impressions, in her own words.

The quotations have been taken, by kind permission of Messrs.

J.M.Dent & Sons, Ltd., from the edition of the letters in their "Everyman Library" (edited by Mr.
Ernest Rhys), with an introduction by Mr.R.Brimley Johnson.
The first edition of the letters appeared in three volumes in 1763, believed to have been edited by John Cleland.