ABSTRACT
Robert Walpole grew up at Eton and Cambridge as the son of the Prime Minister of Great Britain. He set forth on the grand tour certain of the entree in the best Parisian and Florentine drawing-rooms; he returned to England assured of an income, a seat in Parliament, a place in society. But Horace Walpole is certain of his place in letters; it will not even do to condescend to him. People may dismiss the fopperies and the posturings, and claim to see through the finished worldling who, in the pursuit of pleasure, remained content with toys. Walpole has, besides the broadest scope and the longest span, a truly incomparable feeling for detail; and in the letters, where so much of the social history is recorded, he reveals an instinct for tone, a quality of style that may claim to designate the artist.
