, a gentleman of great eminence in the literary and political world,
, a gentleman of great eminence in the literary and political world, was born in Scotland in 1730. He was of a branch of the family of Hamilton, which was considerably reduced in circumstances at
the time of his birth; he himself having repeatedly declared to his friends in Naples, that “he was condemned
to make his way in the world with an illustrious name and
a thousand pounds.
” He was not, however, doomed to
spend many years of his youth in such narrow circumstances; as in 1755 he married a young lady of amiable
character, with whom he received a fortune of 5000l. a
year. The active and important part of his life began
from the moment in which he entered the diplomatic line;
and we may consider it as a circumstance peculiarly fortunate for the literary world, that he was destined to remain nearly the rest of his life in a country truly classical,
in regard to the fine arts and natural history; pursuits for
which he had early evinced the greatest predilection.