I LEARN from England, sir, that lord Bolingbroke has left his manuscripts to you[1]. His friends must see with satisfaction those title deeds of his reputation in the hands of the author of the life of the great lord Bacon; and you will have had the distinguished honour of having been guardian to the fame of two of the greatest geniuses which our country, and perhaps humanity, has produced; but with greater honour to you in this last instance, because you are such by the designation and choice of the author himself.
What works of his you may have for the publick, I know not. That, for which I was solicitous, because I believe it would be most instructive to the world, and might be most for his honour, he told me himself he had laid aside; I mean the history of the great transactions of Europe, from the time when he began to consider and know them. There remains of that, I believe, no more than a summary review, which I had the good fortune some time ago
- ↑ His lordship died Dec. 15, 1751. Lord Hyde having heard at Paris of lord Bolingbroke's legacy of all his writings, printed and manuscript, to Mr. Mallet, wrote from that city the above letter, the original of which was sent by the widow Mallet, with the manuscript of lord Bolingbroke's philosophical works, to the British Museum, in order to justify her husband's integrity in the edition of them.
