The Count of Narbonne By Robert Jephson JEPHSON, ROBERT (1736-1803), dramatist and poet, born in Ireland in 1736, was educated at Dublin at the same school as Malone, and entered the army. He became captain of an infantry regiment on the Irish establishment, and on its reduction retired on half-pay, and fixed his residence in England. There, about 1763, he contracted an intimacy with William Gerard Hamilton [q. v.], with whom he resided as a guest for the greater part of five years, and associated with Johnson, Burke, Charles Townshend, Garrick, Goldsmith, Reynolds, Burney, and others of eminence in literature and art. From a letter written by Jephson in September 1763 it would appear that he had been befriended in a substantial manner by Garrick, but the latter, writing in 1765, implies that Jephson's conduct towards him was less satisfactory than he had expected. Jephson married, in 1767, a daughter of Sir Edward Barry [q. v.], an eminent physician, and soon afterwards obtained the post of master of the horse to Viscount Townshend, lord-lieutenant of Ireland. He thereupon settled in Dublin. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.