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TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

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PHILIP, EARL OF HARDWICKE,

VISCOUNT ROYSTON, K. G. F. R. S. F. S. A.

HIGH STEWARD OF CAMBridge univERSITY,

LORD LIEUTENANT AND CUSTOS ROTULORUM OF THE

COUNTY OF CAMBRIDGE;

t

PRESIDENT OF THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY;
A TRUSTEE OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM, &c. &c.

MY DEAR LORD,

It is a debt of honour to your Lordship, that my attempts to redeem, from Horace's complaint of the "chartæ silentes," a character no less exemplary, than amiable, should pay their tribute of grateful thanks to you, above all others, to whom I am obliged for a gift, or loan of the materials which form this votive tablet; not only because the Letters of Mr. DANIEL WRAY to your Uncle, the second EARL OF HARDWICKE, are of such pre-eminent value in themselves, and throw such light upon the portrait, but also upon account of the affectionate intercourse which united those dear friends,-attracting to this union, by its natural influence, the genius, and the virtues of your accomplished father.

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Nor

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Nor are these your Lordship's only demands

upon me.

You gave to me, as a keepsake, a copy of the Athenian Letters in their last, and beautiful edition.

You reposed unlimited confidence in my selection of Letters, from a series of the originals.

But I can proudly, as well as gratefully, say more: I can thank, and bless you, for your patronage of a dear friend, whose interest I had much at heart, when you were the Viceroy in Ireland.

Nor am I selfish enough to suppress your Lordship's higher claims upon all to whom you are personally endeared: claims to that homage of the heart, which is a debt of honour to an elevated station, when rank and wealth are animated by public virtue, are disciplined by useful knowledge, and are graced by the charm of benevolent affections.

I remain, my dear Lord,

Your Lordship's affectionate Servant,

Walton Grove,
Sept. 30, 1815.

GEORGE HARDINGE.

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BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES

OF

DANIEL WRAY, Esq. F. R.S. AND F.S.A.

I have much pleasure in opening this Volume of Anecdotes with a picture of a singular, but interesting character, imparted by a zealous friend, Mr. JUSTICE HARDINGE, who has enabled me to lay it before the Reader, as a votive tablet of memory to virtue, and genius.

TO JOHN NICHOLS, Esa. F. S. A.
DEAR SIR,

J. N.]

Sept. 30, 1815.

You call upon me to lay before you what I can personally recollect, or can learn from others, of DANIEL WRAY, to whom a note alludes in the second volume of your entertaining " Anecdotes ;" -a work, distinguished not only by zeal for the honour of literature, but, in a degree perhaps unexampled, by that vein of impartial benevolence, which runs through every page of it.

"Critic without malevolence, you have thought it your province, to display beauty, as well as to expose defects; to examine with respect, and praise with alacrity;" words applied by Dr. Johnson to Mr. Spence, and perhaps justly, as writer of the " Essay on the Odyssey;" but not, I think, due to his general

general character, which appears to have been that of an eves'-dropper, in gossiping reports of spleen against amiable characters, dropt in the hectic of the moment by offended competitors.

If Collections like these, of yours, by their compass, and varieties, made us less warpt against those who are not our favourites, not our favourites, less polemical in the factions of Literature,-and less imperious in the oracles of contempt, by developing the merits of accomplished men (whether Trojans or Tyrians) with honest praise; they would be of inestimable value: they would moralize Criticism, as well as enlighten it.

It has often struck me, that a little of the humourist, without pride, or self-indulging passion, which no eccentricities, however amusing, can palliate, recommends the effect of talents, and virtues themselves, in the moral, and social world.

More invidiously, than philosophically, it has been argued, that such an effect arises from our envy, that is, from a base, and mean spirit, which tempts us to rejoice in these whims of good, or great men; because they lessen our superiors, and bring us nearer to them, by discovering the hero behind the scenes, in some of his harmless defects. I cannot, for one, be of that opinion; or even think it lowers the hero, to see him appear like other men, with human frailties, or singularities; and, as it is well expressed, "no hero to his Valet de chambre." To my conception, it elevates him; or, at the worst, it endears him to his inferiors, without prejudice to their candour in feeling his advantage over them, or their humility in attesting it.

Wit, if it is not overbearing, but is like that of Yorick, so well described in Sterne, though indiscreet, never offends. Playful habits, and even levities of manner, especially if they have the advantage" desipere in loco," are delightful in accomplished men. But, above all, the amiable simplicity

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