Note 74 — Chapter III

Son of Selina Countess of Huntingdon. He remained Groom of the Stole till 1770. Akenside, who was one of the least adulatory of poets, addressed to him, in 1747, a didactic ode on his setting out on his travels. He was an amiable and accomplished nobleman, though it requires some partiality to believe of his early youth that his “breast the gifts of every Muse had known.” Delicate health prevented his taking an active part in public business, and in 1766 he declined the embassy to Spain, which was pressed on him by Lord Chatham. He died in 1790, aged 62, without having been married, and the title was for some years supposed to be extinct. In 1819 the father of the present Earl established a claim to it, and took his seat in the House of Lords accordingly.—E.