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[127] part of his education cannot now be ascertained; but he was transferred at an early age to an academy in London, then conducted by Dr. Joshua Oldfield. Here, however, he seems to have remained but a short time; for in 1699, when under sixteen, he was sent to pursue his theological studies at Utrecht; in which university, then enjoying a high celebrity, many of the most distinguished English Nonconformist divines of that period received either the whole or a considerable part of their academical education.1

After spending more than three years at Utrecht, Mr. Lardner, removed to Leyden, where, however, he remained only about six months, and then returned to England. Where or in what manner the intervening years were spent, till 1709, does not appear; but, from the learning and talents which he displayed in more mature age, it cannot be doubted that this period was employed in a diligent and conscientious preparation for the profession to which he was destined of a minister of religion. It was not till August 2, in that year, that he made his first appearance

1 In his funeral sermon for Dr. Hunt, (x. 11,) our author speaks of five or six of the English students, one of whom was Hunt, and ‘perhaps another’ the preacher himself, who in January, 1700, or thereabout, had the curiosity to attend the lectures of a celebrated Rabbi on Jewish learning. After a time, he adds, all except these two, disheartened by the difficulty of the study, gave out. If we are right in this conjecture as to the other student, it is a remarkable indication of proficiency and aptitude for study, that he should have been either prepared or disposed at so early an age to engage in a pursuit which had little to recommend it to the youthful student, except the persuasion that the knowledge thus acquired was, as he expresses it, “a price put into the hand (Prov. XVII. 16) of one who knew how to make use of it.”

London, published by the Unitarian Association, 1840.

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