Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford, as hitherto published, have consisted of,-

1. The letters contained in the quarto edition of his works, published in the year 1798.

2. His letters to George Montagu, Esq. from 1738 to 1770, which formed one quarto volume, published in 1818.

3. His letters to the Rev. William Cole and others, from 1745 to 1782, published in the same form and year.

4. His letters to the Earl of Hertford, during his lordship's embassy to Paris, and also to the Rev. Henry Zouch, which appeared in quarto, in 1825.

And 5. His letters to Sir Horace Mann, British Envoy at the Court of Tuscany, from 1741 to 1760, first published in 1833, in three volumes octavo, from the originals in the possession of the Earl of Waldegrave; edited by Lord Dover, with an original memoir of the author.

To the above are now added several hundred letters, which have hitherto existed Only in manuscript, or made their appearance singly and incidentally in other works. In this new collection, besides the letters to Miss Berry, are some to the Hon. H. S. Conway, and John Chute, Esq. omitted In former editions; and many to Lady Suffolk, his brother-in-law, Charles Churchill, Esq., Captain Jephson, Sir David Dalrymple, Lord Hailes, the Earl of Buchan, the Earl of Charlemont, Mr. Gibbon, Mr. Pitt, afterwards Earl of Chatham, George Hardinge, Esq., Mr. Pinkerton, and other distinguished characters. The letters to the Rev. William Cole have been carefully examined with the originals, and many explanatory notes added, from the manuscript collections of that indefatigable antiquary, deposited in the British museum.

Besides being the only complete edition ever published of the incomparable letters of this "prince of epistolary writers," as he has been designated by an eminent critic, the present work possesses the further advantage of exhibiting the letters themselves in chronological order. Thus the whole series forms a lively and most interesting commentary on the events of the age, as well as a record of the most important transactions, invaluable to the historian and politician, from 1735 to 1797-a period of more than sixty years.

To Lord Dover's description of these letters (1) little need be added. Of Horace Walpole it is not too much to say, that he knew more of the Courts of George I., George II., and George III., during the early years of the last monarch, than any other individual; and, though he lived to an extreme age, the perpetual youthfulness of his disposition rendered him as lively a chronicler when advanced in life, as when his brilliant career commenced. It is to this unceasing spring, this unfading juvenility of spirit, that the world is indebted for the gay colours with which Walpole invests every thing he touches. If the irresistible court beauties-the Gunnings, the Lepels, and others-have been compelled, after their hundred conquests, to yield to the ungallant liberties of Time, and to Death, the rude destroyer, it is a delight to us to know that their charms are destined to bloom for ever in the sparkling graces of the patrician letter-writer. In his epistles are to be seen, even in more vivid tints than those of Watteau, these splendid creatures in all the pride of their beauty and of their wardrobe, pluming themselves as if they never could grow old, and casting around them their piercing glances and no less poignant raillery. But Horace Walpole is not content with thus displaying his dazzling bevy of heroines; he reveals them in their less ostentatious moments, and makes us as familiar with their weaknesses as with the despotic power of their beauty. Nothing that transpired in the great world escaped his knowledge, nor the trenchant sallies of his wit, rendered the more cutting by his unrivalled talent as a raconteur. Whatever he observed found its way into his letters, and thus is formed a more perfect narrative of the Curt-of its intrigues, political and otherwise-of the manoeuvres of statesmen, the cabals of party, and of private society among the illustrious and the fashionable of the last century, at home and on the continent-than can elsewhere be obtained. And how piquant are his disclosures! how much of actual truth do they contain! how perfectly, in his anecdotes, are to be traced the hidden and often trivial sources of some of the most important public events! "Sir Joshua Reynolds," say the Edinburgh reviewers, "used to observe, that, though nobody would for a moment compare Claude to Raphael, there would be another Raphael before there was another Claude; and we own, that we expect to see fresh Humes and fresh Burkes, before we again fall in with that peculiar combination of moral and intellectual qualities to which the writings of Horace Walpole owe their extraordinary popularity."

As a suitable introduction, prefixed to the whole collection of letters, are the author's admirable "Reminiscences of the Courts of George the First and Second," which were first narrated to, and, in 1788, written for the amusement of Miss Mary and Miss Agnes Berry. To the former of these ladies the public is indebted for a curious commentary on the Reminiscences, contained in extracts from the letters of Sarah Duchess of Marlborough, to the Earl of Stair, now first published from the original manuscripts. Of the Reminiscences themselves it has been truly observed, that, both in manner and matter, they are the very perfection of anecdote writing, and make us better acquainted with the manners of George the First and Second and their Courts, than we should be after perusing a hundred heavy historians.

Of the most valuable of all Walpole's correspondence-his letters to Sir Horace Mann-the history will appear in the following Preface to that work, from the pen of the lamented editor, the late Lord Dover:-

"In the Preface to the 'Memoires of the last Ten Years of the Reign of George II. by Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford,' published in the year 1822, is the following statement:-

"'Among the papers found at Strawberry Hill, after the death of Lord Orford, was the following memorandum, wrapped in an envelope, on which was written, Not to be opened till after my will."

"'In my library at Strawberry Hill are two wainscot chests or boxes, the larger marked with an A, the lesser with a B:- I desire, that as soon as I am dead, my executor and executrix will cord up strongly, and sell the larger box, marked A, and deliver it to the Honourable Hugh Conway Seymour, to be kept by him unopened and unsealed till the eldest son of Lady Waldegrave, or whichever of her sons, being Earl of Waldegrave, shall attain the age of twenty-five years; when the said chest, with whatever it contains, shall be delivered to him for his own. And I beg that the Honourable Hugh Conway Seymour, when be shall receive the said chest, will give a promise in writing, signed by him, to Lady Waldegrave, that he or his representatives will deliver the said chest, unopened and unsealed, by my executor and executrix, to the first son of Lady Waldegrave who shall attain the age of' twenty-five years. The key of the said chest is in one of the cupboards of the green closet, within the blue breakfast room, at Strawberry Hill; and that key, I desire, may be delivered to Laura, Lady Waldegrave, to be kept by her till her son shall receive the chest.' "'March 21st, 1790.'"

(Signed) HON. HORACE WALPOLE, EARL OF ORFORD.'
Aug. 19, 1796.'

"In obedience to these directions, the box described in the preceding memorandum was corded an(] sealed with the seals of the Honourable Mrs. Damer and the late Lord Frederick Campbell, the executrix and executor of Lord Orford, and by them delivered to the late Lord Hugh Seymour, by whose representatives it was given up, unopened and unsealed, to the present Earl of Waldegrave, when he attained the age of twenty-five. On