Page:The lives of the poets of Great Britain and Ireland to the time of Dean Swift - Volume 4.djvu/202

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HIS gentleman was deſcended from a good family, of Somerſham-Place, in the county of Huntingdon, and was born in the year 1668. When he arrived at a proper age, he was choſen member of Parliament, and did not remain long in the houſe before he diſtinguiſhed himſelf as a very eminent ſpeaker. Having eſpouſed the court intereſt, his zeal and merit recommended him to very conſiderable public employments, particularly that of being one of the commiſſioners of the royal navy, which place he quitted in the year 1712. The ingenious Mr. Southern in his dedication of his Innocent Adultery, to Mr. Hammond, ſpeaks thus of him. ‘If generoſity with friendſhip, learning with good ſenſe, true wit and humour, with good-nature, be accompliſhments to qualify a gentleman for a patron, I am ſure I have hit right in Mr. Hammond.’

Our author obliged the public with a Miſcellany of Original Poems, by the Moſt Eminent Hands; in which himſelf had no ſmall ſhare. In this miſcellany are ſeveral poetical performances of Mrs. Martha Fowkes, a lady of exquiſite taſte in the belle accompliſhments. As