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OF THE

LITERARY HISTORY

OF THE

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

CONSISTING OF

Authentic Memoirs and Driginal Letters

OF

EMINENT PERSONS;

AND INTENDED AS A SEQUEL TO

The Literary Anecdotes.

BY JOHN NICHOLS, F. S. A.

VOLUME III.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR,

BY NICHOLS, SON, AND BENTLEY, AT CICERO'S HEAD,
RED-LION-PASSAGE, FLEET-STREET;

AND 25, PARLIAMENT-STREET, WESTMINSTER.

1818.

ADVERTISEMENT.

AFTER the very gratifying indulgence

with which the former Volumes of this Work have been honoured, I venture to add one more; a considerable part of which is formed from the communications of a Friend, on whose splendid talents it is unnecessary to enlarge. They appear conspicuously in the present and in some of the preceding Volumes; not only by his own elegant productions, but by the concurrent testimonials of his numerous friends and admirers.

As the animating spirit of Friendship is gratified by throwing any light into the minds of those who love to dwell on the records of departed worth; I have endeavoured, in an introductory Memoir, to raise a last slight tribute to the memory of one whose pleasure seemed chiefly to arise from the communication of it to others, and whose researches had for the most part in view the improvement and benefit of mankind.

Ennobled by a line of Ancestry who were Gentlemen in the antient acceptation of that title, Mr. GEORGE HARDINGE reflected back on them the Hereditary Honours of his Birth, with the addi

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tional lustre which benevolence and integrity of life are capable of affording.

Many of the articles were communicated by Mr. Justice HARDINGE long before his death. Amongst these (not to mention his Father's "Latin Poems," which have been printed as an independent Volume) were, his Correspondence with Bishop WATSON and other Dignitaries of the Church; with HORACE WALPOLE, Mr. BRYANT, &c. &c.; and more especially the two Letters printed in pp. 15. 24; where Wit, Judgment, and Genius, shine forth in the description of delightful visits, in which the Reader cannot fail to participate when reflected by so clear a mirror to the imagination.

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Many other of his original productions were announced by him as intended for publication'; several of which have since been handsomely communicated by his Brother, Sir RICHARD HARDINGe, Bart.; and by his Nephew, the Rev. CHARLES HARDINGE, Vicar of Tunbridge in Kent, and of Crowhurst in Sussex. Of these some are given in this Volume; and others are for the present unavoidably postponed.

In the last Letter I received from Mr. HARDINGE, March 26, 1816, he says, "I mean to give you (apart from Lord CAMDEN'S Life) Memoirs of his wonderful Father, Sir JOHN PRATT. They are finished, and wait your commands. I shall annex (if I live) Lord CAMDEN's Life, and that of my Father."

Of

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