THE RIGHT HON. EDWARD WESTON. APPARENTLY no less beloved for his virtues by the wise and good than he was admired by them for his literary abilities, it cannot but be regretted that so little should be known of this accomplished Etonian. The son of Dr. Stephen Weston, Bishop of Exeter, he was born at Eton in the year 1701; was admitted to King's College in 1719, a year after the admission of his friend, Nicholas Hardinge; took his degree as B.A. in 1723, and as M.A. in 1727. Adopting the State as his profession, Mr. Weston was at an early age appointed secretary to Charles second Viscount Townshend, when Secretary of State, and in that capacity was in attendance on George II. during his visit to Hanover in 1729. He subsequently served for some years as Under-Secretary of State, under the Secretaryship of William first Earl of Harrington, and on the appointment of that nobleman to be Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, was employed under him in that kingdom, of which he became a Privy Councillor. As a man of letters and learning, the merit of Mr. Weston's literary productions would scarcely seem to bear out the considerable literary reputation which he enjoyed in his lifetime. The only printed works of which he would appear to have been the author are a pamphlet on the Jew Bill, published in 1755; 'The Country Gentleman's Advice to his Son on his coming of Age;' 'A Letter to the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of London, on the Earthquake at Lisbon; and, lastly, Family Discourses,' republished after his death by his son, the Rev. Charles Weston, Rector of Therfield, in Hertfordshire, with an affectionate record of his father's virtues.' Bishop Warburton, it may be observed, in referring to him in one of his letters as one of his literary antagonists, speaks but slightingly of him as "by inclination a Methodist, connected with Sherlock." "I am afraid," adds the bishop, "he will be a sharer in that silent contempt with which I treat my answerers. The object of Mr. Weston's affections, to whom he was afterwards married, was Miss Penelope Patrick, granddaughter of the learned and pious Dr. Simon Patrick, Bishop of Ely, and niece of Mrs. Sherlock, wife of Dr. Thomas Sherlock, Bishop of London. Respecting this young lady, it is related that her lover, at least on one, if not on more 1 Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica,' art. Weston. Nichols's Literary Anecdotes,' vol. ix. p. 494. 2 Letter to Hurd. Feb. 17th, 1759. than one, occasion of her having been a "toast" of the evening, drank her health in as many glasses of wine as there were letters in the word Penelopea ; this apparently being the name conferred upon her by his classical friends. The circumstance is introduced by Nicholas Hardinge into one of the happiest of his Latin odes: Ipse Westonus calices, relictis Penelopeam." Mr. Weston's second wife was Miss Anne Fountaine, who was also a niece of Mrs. Sherlock. It may be mentioned that the long inscription on the tomb of Bishop Sherlock in Fulham Churchyard has been supposed to be the composition of Mr. Weston. Conjecture points to December, 1775, as the probable date of Mr. Weston's decease. At all events, at the close of 1776 he was no longer living. 1 N. Hardinge's 'Poems,' p. 58, and note. 9 THE HON. THOMAS TOWNSHEND. THOMAS, second son of Charles second Viscount Townshend, and father of Thomas first Viscount Sydney, was born on the 2nd of June, 1701, and, after having quitted Eton, was educated at King's College, Cambridge. "To name this gentleman," writes Judge Hardinge of his father's friend, "is to add that he was the most amiable and respectable gentleman of his age; that a more highly cultivated understanding, more engaging manners, a higher sense of honour, and of public as well as private virtue, or a more benevolent heart, never blessed the world." To this panegyric it may be further added, that of the accomplished knot of scholars who were Mr. Townshend's contemporaries at Eton and King's College, he was acknowledged not to be the least elegant. The intimate friend of Nicholas Hardinge, it was to Mr. Townshend that the latter addressed the clever Latin ode from which we have quoted in the preceding memoir.' Inviting his friend, 1 N. Hardinge's 'Poems,' p. 56, note. 2 Ad Amicum;' ibid. p. 57. soon after his marriage, to visit him at his chambers in the Temple, the ode commences: "Si placens uxor sinit, et Quadrillam Est mihi splendens focus," &c. On quitting Cambridge, Mr. Townshend, like his schoolfellow Weston, chose the service of the State as his profession; at the same time, however, entering himself as a student at Lincoln's Inn. His first employment was in the office of his father, then Secretary of State, whom he accompanied in his journeys to Hanover when in attendance on George I., and afterwards on George II. His ability for business, not less than his literary attainments, would seem to have been at a very early age appreciated by his contemporaries. At the age of twenty-one he was returned to Parliament as member for Winchelsea, and in the general election which followed was elected, conjointly with the Hon. Edward Finch, a member for the University of Cambridge, in which seat of learning, in conjunction with his colleague, he instituted prizes for the Senior and Middle Bachelors. He was at the same time elected member for Hastings, but preferring to sit for the scene of his education and early friendships, he continued to represent the University during as many as six successive Parliaments; retiring from its representation only when the |