CORRIDOR—DOWNSTAIRS.
Edward, Viscount Hinchingbrook:
By KNELLER.
Three-quarter Length: Oval.
(Red Jacket with Frogs. Blue Cap.)
Born, 1692. Died, 1722.—The eldest son of Edward, third Earl of Sandwich, by the daughter of the Earl of Rochester. Member for the Town, and subsequently for the County of Huntingdon; also Lord Lieutenant, and Custos Rotulorum; was in the army. Noble says his unfortunate father “became so much a cypher, that all the duties of his station devolved on Lord Hinchingbrook, who was an amiable, active and spirited young man.” He married Elizabeth, only daughter of Alexander Popham, Esq., of Littlecote, Wilts, by Lady Anne Montagu, (afterwards Harvey) daughter of Ralph, Duke of Montagu. His portrait and that of his wife, are alluded to by Noble.
Lord Hinchingbrook, in his early youth, appears to have been a great swain, if we can trust the bantering style of the Tatler, in the pages of which, he figures constantly under the soubriquet of Cynthio. In a paper dated White’s Chocolate House, North Side of Russell Street, Covent Garden, he comes in, and gives an elaborate lecture on the art of ogling.
He says: “Twenty men can speak eloquently, and fight manfully, and a thousand can dress genteelly at a mistress, who cannot gaze skilfully.” He gives the benefit of his experience, on the subject at some length; speaks of the late fallings off in the passion of love, boasting that he himself is the only man who is true to the cause. One day, while cleaning his teeth at the window of a tavern, he caught sight of a beautiful face, looking from the window of a coach, and he followed the fair object up, and down the town—a long time, indeed, without success; but this incident is proof of his zeal. There is a ludicrous account of his (imaginary) death from a broken heart; his companions had hoped, that good October and fox hunting would have averted this catastrophe. They propose to erect a monument to his memory, with a very long inscription. The paper is signed by the witty, and mirth-loving Dick Steele. Collins says Lord Hinchingbrook died much regretted: “He had a martial spirit, tempered with fine breeding, which made his company much coveted, and gained him great ascendancy in the House of Commons.” He was a strenuous upholder of the Protestant Succession, and of the rights and liberty of the subject.