XIV INTRODUCTION. 



representative of Sir Robert Viner, Baronet, 

 Lord Mayor of London in the reign of 

 Charles II. Sir Robert was honoured by an 

 intimacy with his Sovereign, of which a plea- 

 sant story is told in " The Spectator," and 

 did the Crown many great services. Such 

 was his loyalty, that he willingly permitted 

 a great portion of his large fortune to find 

 its way into the Exchequer of the Merry 

 Monarch, to whose memory he raised a 

 monument in Stock's Market. 



Designed for the military service of the 

 East India Company, Mr. Brooke received 

 a suitable education; and went out to India 

 at a very early period as a cadet. He spent 

 the first years of his active life in Bengal, 

 where he held several advantageous appoint- 

 ments ; and on the breaking out of the Bur- 

 mese war he accompanied his regiment to 

 Assam. In an action with the enemy his 

 gallantry was so conspicuous that he received 

 the thanks of the Government; but, being shot 

 through the lungs, his native air was deemed 

 necessary to his recovery, and he returned 

 to Europe. 



