FOOTNOTES:

FOOTNOTES:[1]This caution is given by Mercury in the prologue."Nunc internosse ut vos possitis facilius,Ego has habebo hic usque in petaso pinnulas,Tum meo patri autem torulus inerit aureusSub petaso: Id signum Amphitruoni non erit.Ea signa nemo horumce familiariumVideri poterit; verum vos videbitis."[2]This gentleman united in his person the ancient families of Gower and Leveson. He was second son of Sir Thomas Gower, bart., and succeeded to the title and estate, by the death of his nephew, Sir Edward Gower, in the year before. He was a keen whig, and distinguished himself, both by his attachment to Monmouth, and his zeal for the Revolution; but his alliance with Lawrence Earl of Rochester, whose eldest son, Lord Hyde, had married his daughter, might smooth our poet's access to his favour; since Rochester is distinguished as his constant patron. Dryden also refers to former passages of intimacy between him and Sir William. Above all, we are to suppose that, in admiration of our author's poetical talents, Sir William Gower was capable of drowning every unfavourable recollection of his political tenets. Sir William Leveson Gower is ancestor of the present Marquis of Stafford.[3]A noble seat in Staffordshire, inhabited by Sir William Gower, from the Levesons, his maternal ancestors.[4]Betterton, having recovered the dislike to operas, which the failure of "Albion and Albanius" occasioned, had brought out the "Prophetess," of Beaumont and Fletcher, shortened and altered into a musical piece, which was set by the famous Purcell. Dr. Burney has sanctioned the compliment, which Dryden bestows upon it. There is something in our author's turn of expression, which may lead us to infer, that he was but a recent convert to the English school of music. Sir John Hawkins seems to be mistaken, in placing this opera posterior to that of "Prince Arthur." The dances were invented by the celebrated Priest.[5]Under this poetical appellation, the author here, and in the dedication to "Cleomenes," celebrates Jane Lady Hyde, daughter to Sir William L. Gower, and wife, as has been noticed, to Henry Lord Hyde; eldest son of Lawrence Earl of Rochester.[6]Julian, who styled himself secretary to the muses, made a dirty livelihood, by copying and dispersing lampoons at the Wits' coffee-house. He was the subject of a copy of verses, which the reader will find among those ascribed to Dryden on doubtful authority.[7]The poetasters of that age were so numerous, and so active, that the most deplorable attempt at wit, or satire, was usually answered in one which was yet worse. Parody and personal abuse were the implements of this warfare, which sometimes extended to answers, replies, rejoinders, rebutters, and sur-rebutters, all only distinguished by malignant scurrility.[8]The author alludes to some popular tales of the day, or perhaps of former; but the editor confesses himself unable to trace the reference.[9]The infamous Scroggs, and several of Charles the Second's judges, had huffed, and roared, and ranted, and domineered, over the unfortunate victims, who suffered for the Popish Plot; and had been equally partial to prerogative, when the king's party attained a decided ascendancy.[10]The author acknowledges, with gratitude, the opinion of his "first and best patroness, the duchess of Monmouth," which, to the author of "Absalom and Achitophel," must have excited a strange mixture of recollections and emotions. The judgment of that accomplished lady alleged the fairy kind of writing, which depends only on the force of imagination, as the grounds for liking a piece which has that chiefly to recommend it.[11]Tasso's "Gierusaleme Liberata."[12]We have often occasion, in these notes, to mention the Marquis of Halifax. He was originally Sir George Saville, Baronet; but, being early characterized by unmatched dexterity in political intrigue, he successively attained the rank of Viscount, Earl, and, in 1682, Marquis of Halifax. He acted alternately for the people against the Crown, and for the Crown against the people; for he delighted in nice and delicate strokes of policy, and in balancing, by a slight but well-applied exertion, the sinking against the rising faction. Hence he was accounted the head of the little faction called Trimmers; and hence his counsels became particularly acceptable to Charles II., whose administration he guided, as Lord Privy Seal, during the last years of that monarch's life. The king had no mind that the high-flying tories should attain an absolute predominance; for he feared his brother, who had placed himself at their head, and he loved Monmouth, who was the object of their most violent hatred. Still less could he be supposed to favour the whigs, whose ranks contained many determined republicans. A minister, therefore, whose ingenious and versatile councils could enable him to check the triumph of the tories, without too much encouraging the whigs, was a treasure to him,—and just such a minister was Halifax. Our author therefore dedicates to him, with great propriety, a piece written for Charles, when Halifax was his favourite minister; and the subjects of eulogium are chosen with Dryden's usual felicity. Some allowance must doubtless be made, for the indispensible obligation which compelled a dedicator to view the conduct of his patron on the favourable side. Such an unfortunate wight cannot be reasonably tied down to uniformity of sentiment in different addresses. The character of Dryden's immediate patron was always his cue for praise: if he stood forward against a predominant party, he was necessarily Cato, the most virtuous of men; if he yielded to the torrent, he was Phocion or Cicero, and Cato was a fool to him. With the few grains of allowance which his situation required, Dryden's praise of Halifax is an honest panegyric. It is certain, his wisdom prevented a civil war in the last years of the reign of Charles, and indirectly led the way to a bloodless revolution. The age in which he lived was therefore so far indebted to him, as our author has elegantly said, for the lives of husbands and of children, for property unviolated, and wealth undiminished. Nor does the present owe him less; for, when is it that a government, erected by a party successful in civil dissention, does not far exceed their just, and even their original pretensions? The parties had each founded their plea and their pretensions upon sacred and integral parts of the constitution, as the contending factions of the Jews occupied, the one the temple, and the other the palace of Jerusalem. In a civil war, one bulwark or other must have fallen with the party which it sheltered; and it was only the Revolution of 1688, which, leaving both whig and tory in full strength, compelled them mutually to respect the constitutional vantage-ground assumed by each other.[13]Lord Halifax was unquestionably a man of wit; and we have some tolerable bon mots of his, handed down by his contemporaries. Burnet says, "The liveliness of his imagination was always too hard for his judgment. A severe jest was preferred by him to all arguments whatever; and he was endless in consultations; for when, after much discourse, a point was settled, if he could find a new jest to make even that which was suggested by himself ridiculous, he could not hold, but would study to raise the credit of his wit, though it made others call his judgment in question." We may not, perhaps, refine too far in supposing, that the bishop was not always able to estimate the policy of this subtle statesman. It was more frequently his wish to avoid taking decisive steps than to recommend them; and what could more effectually retard violent councils than the conduct remarked by Burnet, or what argument would have weighed with Charles II. like a keen jest?[14]The Roman veterans were dismissed after twenty years service; a regulation equally politic and humane. In 1691 a French invasion, in behalf of King James, appeared not improbable.[15]We cannot trace the result of this study any where but in the song of the Saxon priests; and it did not surely require much reading to glean up the names of the Saxon deities, which are almost the only traits of national manners exhibited through the drama.[16]Under that of Jotham in "Absalom and Achitophel."[17]The ancient game of shovel-board was played by sliding pieces of money along a smooth table, something on the principle of billiards. The allusion seems to be the same as if a modern poet had said, that a feeble player at billiards runs no risk of pocketing his own ball. The reader will find a variety of passages concerning this pastime in the notes of the various commentators upon a passage in the "Merry Wives of Windsor," where Slender enumerates among the contents of his pocket, when picked by Pistol, "two Edward shovel-boards," that is, two broad shillings of Edward VI. used for playing at this game. In some old halls the shovel-board table is still preserved, and sometimes used.[18]Cardinal Ottoboni, a Venetian by birth, succeeded to the tiara on the death of Innocent XI., and assumed the name of Alexander VIII. He was, like his predecessor, an enemy to France, and maintained the privileges of the Holy See, both in the point of the regale, and in refusing to grant bulls to those French bishops who had signed the formulary of 1682, by which the Pope was declared fallible, and subject to the decrees of a general council. His death took place during the congress of 1690. It was therefore a recent event when this play was first represented, and the disposition of his successor, towards the French or Imperial Courts, was matter of anxious speculation to the politicians of the day.[19]In imitation of the blind man, who said, that "red resembled the sound of a trumpet."[20]One virtue ascribed by Odinn to the Runick characters was, to blunt the weapons of an enemy.[21]In this Ode is contained all the use which our poet made of his knowledge of the Saxon manners, gleaned from Bede and Bochart. It is certain, that the Saxons, like the other Northmen, used the horrible superstition of human sacrifices. Woden, Freya or Frigga his wife, and Thor the god of war, were worshipped by the Saxons with probably the same attributes ascribed to them as in Denmark and Sweden. The casting of lots is mentioned by Alfred in his version of Bede,pluton mid tanum, "they cast lots with twigs." Much, and most extensive learning, has been displayed on the subject, by Mr Turner, in the fourth volume of his Anglo-Saxon History.[22]This long stage direction contains an attempt to render interesting what is necessarily ridiculous. With all the assistance of bloody spunges, a stage combat must be always a ludicrous representation of a real one. We are content, in old plays, to let it pass, as a hieroglyphic, which conveys to us the author's meaning; but modern dramatists would do well to obscure their combats, if the termination is to be a bloody one.[23]The Nine Worthies were equally divided among three religions; namely, Three Pagans, Hector, Pompey, and Alexander the Great; three Jews, Joshua, David, and Judas Machabæus; and three Christians, Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Boulogne.[24]In this passage, Dryden's discontent with the existing circumstances glances out: It is probable, that much was here omitted, or altered, which would have adorned the termination of the piece, had it been represented to Charles II. as originally designed by the author.[25]With a slight alteration in spelling, a modern poet would have writtenBond-Streetbeaux. A billet-doux fromBow-Streetwould be now more alarming than flattering.[26]The whole passage is so very fine, that I think I may venture to extract it from this beautiful and forgotten tragedy. Caratach and Hengo, the uncle and nephew, are besieged on a rock by the Romans, and reduced to extremity by hunger. They are decoyed by some food, hung on a rock by the centurion Judas.CaratachandHengoon the rock.Caratach.Courage, my boy! I have found meat: Look, Hengo,Look where some blessed Briton, to preserve thee,Was hung a little food and drink; cheer up, boy,Do not forsake me now!Hengo.Oh uncle, uncle,I feel I cannot stay long; yet I'll fetch it,To keep your noble life. Uncle, I'm heart-whole,And would live.Car.Thou shalt, long, I hope.Hengo.But my head, uncle!Methinks the rock goes round.Enter, below,MacerandJudas,Romans.Macer.Mark them well, Judas.Judas.Peace, as you love your life.Hengo.Do not you hearThe noise of bells?Car.Of bells, boy? 'tis thy fancy;Alas, thy body's full of wind!Hengo.Methinks, sir,They ring a strange sad knell, a preparationTo some near funeral of state.—Nay, weep not,Mine own sweet uncle; you will kill me sooner.Car.Oh, my poor chicken!Hengo.Fie, faint-hearted uncle!Come, tie me in your belt, and let me down.Car.I'll go myself, boy.Hengo.No, as you love me, uncle;I will not eat it, if I do not fetch it;The danger only I desire: pray tie me.Car.I will, and all my care hang o'er thee! Come, child,My valiant child.Hengo.Let me down apace, uncle;And you shall see how, like a daw, I'll whip itFrom all their policies; for 'tis most certainA Roman train; and you must hold me sure too;You'll spoil all else. When I have brought it, uncle,We'll be as merry——Car.Go, in the name of heaven, boy.—[Lets him down.Hengo.Quick, quick, good uncle! I have it—Oh![JudasshootsHengo.Car.What ailest thou?Hengo.Oh, my best uncle, I am slain!Car.I see you,And heaven direct my hand.—[He killsJudaswith a stone.DestructionGo with thy coward soul!—How dost thou, boy?—Oh villain, pocky villain!Hengo.Oh, uncle, uncle,Oh how it pricks me! Am I preserved for this?Extremely pricks me.Car.Coward, rascal coward!Dogs eat thy flesh!Hengo.Oh, I bleed hard! I faint too; out upon't,How sick I am!—the lean rogue, uncle!Car.Look, boy;I've laid him sure enough.Hengo.Have you knocked his brains out?Car.I warrant thee, for stirring more; cheer up, child.Hengo.Hold my sides hard; stop, stop; oh, wretched fortune,Must we part thus? Still I grow sicker, uncle.Car.Heaven look upon this noble child!Hengo.I once hopedI should have lived to have met these bloody RomansAt my sword's point, to have revenged my father,To have beaten them. Oh hold me hard!—but, uncle—Car.Thou shalt live still, I hope, boy. Shall I draw it?Hengo.You draw away my soul, then. I would liveA little longer; spare me, heavens! but onlyTo thank you for your tender love. Good uncle,Good noble uncle, weep not.Car.Oh my chicken,My dear boy, what shall I lose!Hengo.Why, a childThat must have died however; had this 'scaped me,Fever or famine. I was born to die, sir.Car.But thus unblown, my boy?Hengo.I go the straighterMy journey to the Gods. Sure I shall know youWhen you come, uncle?Car.Yes, boy.Hengo.And I hopeWe shall enjoy together that great blessednessYou told me of?Car.Most certain, child.Hengo.I grow cold;Mine eyes are going.Car.Lift them up.Hengo.Pray for me—And, noble uncle, when my bones are ashes,Think of your little nephew! mercy!—Car.Mercy!You blessed angels, take him!Hengo.Kiss me—so—Farewell, farewell![Dies.Car.Farewell the hopes of Britain!Thou royal graft, farewell for ever!—Time and death,Ye've done your worst. Fortune, now see, now proudlyPluck off thy veil, and view thy triumph; look,Look what thou hast brought this land to.—Oh, fair flower,How lovely yet thy ruins show! how sweetlyEven death embraces thee! The peace of heaven,The fellowship of all great souls, be with thee!The Tragedy of Bonduca, act v.This extract is perhaps longer than necessary; but, independently of its extreme beauty, it serves to justify the observation in the text, that Dryden had the recollection of Hengo strongly in his memory while composing the character of Cleonidas. Both are extenuated by hunger, and both killed insidiously by a cowardly enemy; and the reader will discover more minute resemblances to the very dialogue of Beaumont and Fletcher on perusing p. 209, and pp. 324, 325. I do Dryden no injury in ascribing a decided superiority to the more ancient dramatists.][27]This fact is ascertained by the following passage in the Dedication of Southerne's play, called the "Wife's Excuse," to the Honourable Thomas Wharton."These, sir, are capital objections against me; but they hit very few faults, nor have they mortified me into a despair of pleasing the more reasonable part of mankind. If Mr Dryden's judgment goes for any thing, I have it on my side; for, speaking of this play, he has publicly said, "the town was kind to Sir Anthony Love; I needed them only to be just to this;" and to prove there was more than friendship in his opinion, upon the credit of this play with him, falling sick last summer, he bequeathed to my care the half of the last act of his tragedy of "Cleomenes;" which, when it comes into the world, you will find to be so considerable a trust, that all the town will pardon me for defending this play, that preferred me to it. If modesty be sometimes a weakness, what I say can hardly be a crime: in a fair English trial, both parties are allowed to be heard; and, without this vanity of mentioning Mr Dryden, I had lost the best evidence of my cause."I cannot but remark a material difference between this quotation, as here quoted from the 8vo edition of Southerne's Plays, 1774, and as quoted by Mr Malone, who reads "the fifth act," instead of "the halfof the fifthact."[28]Motteux, in the "Gentleman's Journal," has announced the prohibition of Cleomenes, and its removal, in a remarkable passage quoted by Mr Malone."I was in hopes to have given you in this letter an account of the acting of Dryden's "Cleomenes:" it was to have appeared upon the stage on Saturday last, and you need not doubt but that the town was big with the expectation of the performance; but orders came from her Majesty to hinder its being acted; so that none can tell when it shall be played.""I told you in my last," says the same writer in the following month, "that none could tell when Mr Dryden's "Cleomenes" would appear. Since that time, the innocence and merit of the play have raised it several eminent advocates, who have prevailed to have it acted; and you need not doubt but it has been with great applause."[29]Cibber has thus described Mrs Barry at the time when she was honoured by this high compliment from Dryden:"Mrs Barry was then (in 1690) in possession of almost all the chief parts in tragedy: With what skill she gave life to them, you may judge from the words of Dryden in his preface to "Cleomenes." I perfectly remember her acting that part; and, however unnecessary it may seem to give my judgement after Dryden's, I cannot help saying, I do not only close with his opinion, but will venture to add, that though Dryden has been dead these thirty-eight years, the same compliment to this hour may be due to her excellence. And though she was then not a little past her youth, she was not till that time fully arrived to her maturity of power and judgment. From whence I would observe, that the short life of beauty is not long enough to form a complete actress. In men, the delicacy of person is not so absolutely necessary, nor the decline of it so soon taken notice of. The fame Mrs Barry arrived at, is a particular proof of the difficulty there is in judging with certainty from their first trials, whether young people will ever make any great figure in a theatre. There was, it seems, so little hope of Mrs Barry at her first setting out, that she was at the end of the first year discharged the company, among others that were thought to be a useless expence to it. I take it for granted, that the objection to Mrs Barry at that time must have been a defective ear, or some unskilful dissonance in her manner of pronouncing. But where there is a proper voice and person, with the addition of a good understanding, experience tells us, that such defect is not always invincible; of which not only Mrs Barry, but the late Mrs Oldfield, are eminent instances,—Mrs Barry, in characters of greatness, had a presence of elevated dignity; her mien and motion superb, and gracefully majestic; her voice full, clear, and strong, so that no violence of passion could be too much for her; and when distress or tenderness possessed her, she subsided into the most affecting melody and softness. In the art of exciting pity, she had a power beyond all the actresses I have yet seen, or what your imagination can conceive. Of the former of these two great excellencies, she gave the most delightful proofs in almost all the heroic plays of Dryden and Lee; and of the latter, in the softer passions of Otway's Monimia and Belvidera. In scenes of anger, defiance, or resentment, while she was impetuous and terrible, she poured out the sentiment with an enchanting harmony; and it was this particular excellence for which Dryden made her the above-recited compliment upon her acting Cassandra in his "Cleomenes." But here I am apt to think his partiality for that character may have tempted his judgment to let it pass for her master-piece, when he could not but know there are several other characters in which her action might have given her a fairer pretence to the praise he has bestowed upon her for Cassandra: for in no part of that is there the least ground for compassion, as in Monimia; nor equal cause for admiration, as in the nobler love of Cleopatra, or the tempestuous jealousy of Roxana. 'Twas in these lights I thought Mrs Barry shone with a much brighter excellence than in Cassandra. She was the first person whose merit was distinguished by the indulgence of having an annual benefit-play, which was granted to her alone, if I mistake not, first in King James's time; and which became not common to others, till the division of this company after the death of King William's Queen Mary. This great actress died of a fever towards the latter end of Queen Anne; the year I have forgot, but perhaps you will recollect it by an expression that fell from her in blank verse, in her last hours, when she was delirious, viz.Ha, ha! and so they make us lords by dozens!""And yet (says Antony Aston, in his curious 'Supplement to Cibber's work,') this fine creature was not handsome, her mouth opening most on the right side, which she strove to draw t'other way, and at times composing her face, as if sitting to have her picture drawn. Mrs Barry was middle-sized, and had darkish hair, light eyes, dark eye-brows, and was indifferently plump. She had a manner of drawing out her words, which became her, but not Mrs Bradshaw and Mrs Porter, her successors. Neither she, nor any of the actresses of those times, had any tone in their speech, so much lately in use. In tragedy she was solemn and august; in free comedy, alert, easy, and genteel; pleasant in her face and action; filling the stage with variety of gesture. She was woman to Lady Shelton, of Norfolk, (my godmother,) when Lord Rochester took her on the stage, where for some time they could make nothing of her. She could neither sing nor dance, no not in a country-dance."—Malone, Vol. III. p. 227.[30]Dryden had already distinguished Hyde, Earl of Rochester, by inscribing "The Duke of Guise" to him. As he was son of the famous Lord Clarendon, he was, of course, uncle to Queen Mary, by the mother's side, and his protection continued therefore to be respectable, although his political tenets were strongly Jacobitical.[31]See the end of the 34th and beginning of the 35th canto of the "Orlando Furioso."[32]The 29th Ode of the First Book. See it among our author's translations from Horace.[33]These ladies, Mr Malone supposes to be Lord Rochester's two daughters, Henrietta Lady Dalkeith, and Mary Lady Conway, with his daughter-in-law Lady Hyde, the Berenice who is mentioned presently afterward. The Duchess of Ormond, eldest daughter of the Earl, died in 1685, and therefore could not be of the number.[34]Lady Silvius was the wife of Sir Gabriel Silvius, employed upon various occasions as an English envoy on the Continent.[35]"As a fair morning of the blessed spring,After a tedious stormy night,Such was the glorious entry of our King;Enriching moisture dropp'd on every thing;Plenty he sow'd below, and cast about him light.But then, alas! to thee aloneOne of old Gideon's miracles was shewn,For every tree and every herb aroundWith pearly dew was crown'd;And upon all the quicken'd groundThe fruitful seed of heaven did brooding lie,And nothing but the Muses' fleece was dry."[36]Anthony, fourth Lord Viscount Falkland, succeeded to that title by the death of his father in 1664. He was a person of wit and honour, as the phrase then was; a character which he maintained by writing prologues, and occasional verses, as well as by keeping company with men of more genius than his own. He died in 1694.[37]This objection and answer are stated by Steele to have taken place in an extempore conversation betwixt Dryden and a young beau just come from the representation of "Cleomenes."—See theGuardian, No. 45. The retort may doubtless have been first made by the poet in this manner; but it is more probable that Steele either had an inaccurate recollection of the passage, or thought it had a more lively effect when thrown into dialogue.[38]The enemies of Dryden, imputing to him the pitiful jealousy of which they were probably themselves conscious, pretended, that, envious of the reputation which Creech acquired by his translation of Lucretius, Dryden insidiously pushed him on to attempt a version of Horace, a task for which he was totally unfit, and by which he forfeited all the credit he had gained. The accusation is thus stated by Tom Brown, and may serve for a specimen of the under-bred petulance in which he indulges.Bays."I have a certain profound stratagem still behind, mySacra AnchoraI call it, which is only to be made use of upon extraordinary occasions, and which I was never forced to employ but once in my time, and is as follows: When any young author has been so fortunate in his first undertaking, as to win himself the applause of all the world, so that 'tis impossible for one to ruin his reputation, without running the hazard of having his throat cut by all sort of company, I am as forward as the best of them all to commend his ingenuity, to extol his parts, and promise him a copy of verses before his book, if he honours the world with a second edition.Crites."Very good.Bays."At the same time I privately feel his pulse, and examine the nature, and inclination of the beast. If he chances to be a little saturnine like myself, I set him upon a gay undertaking, where 'tis the devil and all of ill luck if he does not ship-wreck all his former credit. But, if he proves a man of a brisk and jolly temper, I persuade him of all loves to make an experiment of his abilities upon some serious solemn subject; tell him, if ever he expects to be saved, he must out of hand do justice to the Psalms and Canticles, which work he's as incapable to manage, egad, as little David was to fight in Saul's armour. Thus, gentlemen, by engaging the author in a province, where he has not stock enough to carry on the plantation, I never fail one way or other to compass my designs, and, at long-run, to defeat my competitor.Crites."Why, Mr Bays, this is like enjoining a painter, that has a good fancy at drawing of Saracens' heads, and grotesque figures only, to draw you a Venus or an Adonis, where he must certainly miscarry. Now, I am apt to fancy you trepanned the honest translator of Lucretius with this profound piece of policy: Come, confess the truth, man; did you not?Bays."You could not have guessed better, Mr Crites, if you had dived into my diaphragma for the secret. It was not in my power, you must know, either to suppress the work, or to discommend it; because, to give the gentleman his due, it was performed beyond all expectation, and, what was a mighty matter, it suited as pat as might be with the philosophy of the town that was then in fashion. Now, to undermine and ruin him to all intents and purposes, I took these measures. I flatter, hug, and caress him, like an Achitophel as I was; after the strangest manner imaginable, profess all the respect and friendship in the world for him; tell him that providence had certainly reserved him for working miracles in poetry; and that I had some ancient prophecies by me at home, which declared him to be the very person that was to deliver the immortal writers of former ages out of that Algerine captivity they had so long laboured under—Crites."Well, for daubing and wheedling, I'll let thee loose to any poet in Christendom."Bays."That, if by his mighty feat he could form those Irish atoms of Lucretius into so regular, and well-disciplined an army, could raise such harmony out of a dull unmusical philosopher, how glorious and exalted would his attempts be upon Horace, or what might we not expect from so advantageous, so promising an undertaking. And so, gentlemen, with the help of a little incense and flattery, I so cajoled this Æsop's crow, that he presently dropt his Epicurean cheese out of his mouth, to sing one of his unmusical ill-turned Odes of Horace. I persuaded this Welch courser to leave his ragged unaccessible precipices, where there was no coming after him, to try his strength and feet upon good plain ground, where an English vinegar horse, I knew, would easily distance him."The Reasons of Mr Bayes changing his Religion considered in a Dialogue.Shields, or whoever wrote Creech's Life, in the collection to which Theophilus Cibber gave his name, has not only adopted this tale of scandal, but has added, that the great contempt expressed by Dryden for the translation of Horace, gave the author a shock, from which he never recovered, and, in short, occasioned his falling into low-spirits, and finally committing suicide. The passage, to which this note refers, is sufficient to clear our author from so gross and scandalous a reproach. It shews that after the publication of Creech's Horace he continued, in the most public manner, not only to speak kindly and respectfully of the translator, but to stimulate him to new exertions. It is hence evident, that no breach of friendship took place between them on this occasion; far less could Dryden have driven him to despair by harshness or contempt. The inference, that Dryden urged Creech to attempt Horace, because he foresaw his failure, seems the unfounded deduction of calumny and envy. In the dedication to the Translation of Horace, which is addressed to our author, Creech himself bears the following strong testimony to the liberality of Dryden's sentiments."'Tis you, sir, that have advanced our dramatic to its height, and showed that epic poetry is not confined to Italy and Greece. That you are honoured by the best, and envied by others, proclaims excellency and worth; for, true honour is built only upon perfection; and envy, as it is as sharp sighted, so 'tis as soaring as an eagle; and who ever saw it stoop at a sparrow or a wren? and that candour and goodness have the greatest share in your composition, I dare appeal to every one whom you have any way favoured with your conversation; these so fill your mind, that there is no room left for pride, or any disobliging quality. This appears from the encouragement you are ready to give any tolerable attempts, and reach out a helping hand to all those who endeavour to climb that height where you are already seated. Even this owes its completion to those smiles which you condescended to bestow upon some parts of it, and now ventures to appear asecondtime, where at first it found a favourable entertainment."The reader will observe that this dedication is prefixed to thesecondedition of the Translation of Horace; a circumstance which confutes the assertion that Dryden ridiculed the work, and indeed the whole of a tale, so malignantly invented by slander, and repeated by credulity.[39]Marcus Manilius, a poet of the Augustan age, wrote the poem on astronomy, to which Dryden refers.[40]Sir Henry Shere published his Translation of Polybius in 1692-3, in two volumes, 8vo., to which there was prefixed a character of the author, and of his writings, by Dryden.[41]Ægiatis was the first wife of Cleomenes. The reader will find an account of the modest custom of Sparta here alluded to, with a curious advantage taken of it by a stranger, in "Les Voyages D'Antenor."[42]It is surprising that Dryden has not here availed himself of the beautiful and affectionate apostrophe of Cleomenes, when he saw his brother Eucleidas overpowered in the battle of Sellasia: "Thou art lost, dear brother! lost for ever, thou brave example to our Spartan youth, and theme of our matrons' songs!"[43]This very appropriate simile is taken literally from Plutarch. See the prefixed Life of Cleomenes, p. 239.[44]This sentiment was used, and absolutely acted upon, by the famous Hewet, in very similar circumstances to those of Cleomenes. "Being taken with a suppression of urine," says Smollet, "he resolved, in imitation of Pomponius Atticus, to take himself off by abstinence; and this resolution he executed like an ancient Roman. He saw company to the last, cracked his jokes, conversed freely, and entertained his guests with music. On the third day of his fast, he found himself entirely freed of his complaint, but refused taking sustenance. He said, the most disagreeable part of the voyage was past; and he should be a cursed fool indeed to put about ship, when he was just entering the harbour. In these sentiments he persisted, without any marks of affectation; and thus finished his course with such ease and serenity, as would have done honour to the firmest Stoic of antiquity."—Note upon the Expedition of Humphrey Clinker.[45]William Fuller was an informer, who pretended, about this time, to make discovery of a formidable plot, by the Jacobites, against the government. But his luck was not so great as that of his prototype, Titus Oates; for the House of Commons finding him unable to produce the witnesses, to whom he referred for support of his tale, on the 24th February 1691, declared him "a notorious impostor, a cheat, and a false accuser, having scandalized their Majesties, and their government, abused this house, and falsely accused several persons of honour and quality." Fuller was prosecuted by the Attorney General for this offence, and punished by the pillory; notwithstanding which he did not profit by Mrs Bracegirdle's legacy, so as to make "his next plot more clear;" for, in 1702, he was sentenced to the same painful elevation, for publishing an impudent forgery, concerning the birth of the Prince of Wales, son to James II.—See State Trials, vol. VI. p. 442; and the Journals of the House of Commons, for February 1691.[46]Of Wickham I can learn nothing; but the nature of his imposture is easily to be gathered from the text.[47]See Introduction to Œdipus, vol.VI.p. 121.[48]"The second play is Mr Dryden's, called "Love Triumphant, or Nature will prevail." It is a tragi-comedy; but, in my opinion, one of the worst he ever writ, if not the very worst: the comical part descends beneath the style and show of a Bartholomew-Fair droll. It was damned by the universal cry of the town,nemine contradicentebut the conceited poet. He says in his prologue, that this is the last the town must expect from him; he had done himself a kindness, had he taken his leave before."[49]James, the fourth Earl of Salisbury, was strongly attached to the religion and cause of his former master, James II., a reason, doubtless, for Dryden inscribing to him his last dramatic offspring. There was also a connection betwixt our poet's lady and the Earl, which is alluded to in the dedication. The Earl succeeded to the title in 1683.[50]It was an ancient custom derived from the days of chivalry, but which long survived them, that, as formerly the future knight had to go through a preliminary course of education, as page and squire to some person of rank and valour; so the pages of the quality, so late as the Revolution, were the sons of gentlemen, and in no way derogated from their birth by accepting that menial situation. This is often alluded to in the old plays. In the "New Inn" for example, when Lovel asks of the Host his son for a page, we have an account of the decay of the institution from its original purposes and respectability.Lovel.Call you that desperate, which by a lineOf institution from our ancestorsHath been derived down to us, and receivedIn a succession, for the noblest wayOf breeding up our youth in letters, arms,Fair mien, discourses, civil exercise,And all the blazon of a gentleman?Where can he learn to vault, to ride, to fence,To move his body gracefuller? to speakHis language purer? or tune his mindAnd manners more to the harmony of nature,Than in these nurseries of nobility?——Host.Aye, that was when the nurseries self was noble,And only virtue made it, not the market,That titles were not vented at the drumOr common outcry: Goodness gave the greatness,And greatness worship: Every house becameAn academy of honour, and those partsWe see departed in the practice nowQuite from the institution.Lovel.Why do you say so,Or think so enviously? do they not stillLearn there the centaur's skill, the art of Thrace,To ride? or Pollux' mystery, to fence?The Pyrrhick gesture, both to dance and springIn armour? to be active for the wars?To study figures, numbers, and proportions,May yield them great in counsel? and the arts,Grave Nestor and the wise Ulysses practised,To make their English sweet upon their tongue,As reverend Chaucer says?Host.Sir, you mistake.—To play Sir Pandarus my copy hath it,And carry messages to Madam Cresside;Instead of backing the brave steed o' mornings,To mount the chamber-maid, and, for a leapO' the vaulting horse, to ply the vaulting house;For exercise of arms, a bale of dice,Or two or three packs of cards, to shew the cheat,And nimbleness of hand; mistake a cloakFrom my lord's back, and pawn it; ease his pocketsOf a superfluous watch; or geld a jewelOf an odd stone or so; twinge two or three buttonsFrom off my lady's gown. These are the arts,Or seven liberal deadly sciencesOf pagery, or rather paganism,As the tides run; to which if he apply him,He may perhaps take a degree at TyburnA year the earlier; come to read a lectureUpon Aquinas at St Thomas a watering's,And so go forth a laureat in hemp circle.New Inn.Act I. Scene 3d.[51]The second earl of Salisbury married an aunt of Lady Elizabeth Dryden; his son, lord Cranbourne, was grandfather of James, the fourth earl; and therein consisted the relationship between Dryden's sons, and the family of his patron, to which it is somewhat difficult, in modern days, to give an exact name.[52]This attitude and employment, however inconsistent with our modern ideas of good breeding, seems to have been an air frequently assumed by the beaus of the seventeenth century. In a play by Killigrew, called the "Parson's Wedding," we have this direction: "Enter Jack Constant, Will Sad, Jolly, and a footman: they comb their heads, and talk." Our author alludes to the same fashion, in the Prologue to the "Conquest of Grenada," Part II.Straight every man who thinks himself a wit,Perks up, and, managing his comb with grace,With his white wig sets off his nut-brown face.The same custom is alluded to by Congreve, and is supposed to have remained fashionable during Queen Anne's time.[53]Mr Malone conjectures, with great probability, that this virtue, which would not bear the light, must have been lord Salisbury's secret attachment to the exiled monarch.[54]This seems to be an allusion to the pretended dukedom of Marine, in Beaumont and Fletcher's "Noble Gentleman," which had been revived in 1688, by Tom D'urfey, under the title of the "Three Dukes of Dunstable."Gent.Hark you, sir, the king doth know you are a duke.Mar.No! does he?Gent.Yes, and is content you shall be; but with this caution,That none know't but yourself; for, if you do,He'll take't away by act of parliament.Mar. There is my hand, and, whilst I live or breathe,No living wight shall know I am a duke,[55]I do not know if any individual is here levelled at. Shakespeare has had his critics in all ages, who, like the inexpert tinker, have generally made two holes in patching one. In the end of the seventeenth century, his plays were usually acted in a sophisticated state, as altered by Tate, D'Avenant, Crowne, Ravenscroft, and others. The last, in the preface to his alteration of "Titus Andronicus," has the impudence to say, "That if the reader will compare the old play with his copy, he will find that none in all that author's works ever received greater alterations or additions, the language not only refined, but many scenes entirely new, besides most of the principal characters heightened, and the plot much increased."[56]Alluding to the vulgar proverb, "One who is born under a three-penny planet will never be worth a groat."[57]There would probably occur to the audience of the period, some recollection of the manner in which King James had been treated by Sunderland.[58]Meaning, that the courtiers, although their eyes be as fatal as those of basilisks, are not subject to the fate of that fabulous serpent, which died if a man beheld it first.[59]Our author uses the same old word, for a scramble, in the prologue to "The Widow Ranter."Bauble and cap no sooner are thrown down,But there's amussof more than half the town.It occurs frequently in old authors, and particularly in the well known passage in "Anthony and Cleopatra."——Of late, when I cried ho!Like boys unto amuss, kings would start forth,And cry, your will?[60]This old English word, for a Christmas masquerading frolic, is still used in some parts of England.[61]See the lines in the prologue,He dies,—at least to us and to the stage,And what he has, he leaves this noble age.[62]Mr Malone supposes the play to have been acted on the 25th March, 1700; Dryden died on the 1st of May following. The play was advertised for publication in the London Gazette of 17th June, 1700. The following is the full title:—"The Pilgrim, a Comedy, as it is acted at the Theatre-royal in Drury-lane, written originally by Mr Fletcher, and now very much altered, with several additions; likewise, a Prologue, Epilogue, Dialogue, and Masque, written by the late great poet, Mr Dryden, just before his death, being the last of his works. Printed for Benjamin Tooke, near the Middle Temple Gate, in Fleet-street. 1700."In the published copy our author is mentioned as dead:—"Governor. I hope before you go, sir, you'll share with us an entertainment, the late great poet of our age prepared to celebrate this day." But this, as Mr Malone observes, was probably an addition, after Dryden's death had taken place. Gildon, in his "Comparison between the Stages," seems to say that the play was performed for the benefit of Dryden'sson; probably, because in his father's extreme illness, or upon his death, his son would naturally draw the profits. On the whole, it seems probable, that Dryden survived the performance of the play; as it is presumable that "The Secular Masque," being intended to solemnise the supposed termination of the century, was brought out as soon as possible in the new year.[63]The savage amusement of bear-baiting was much in fashion in England during the seventeenth century. Tom Dove, although equipped with a name not very expressive of his properties, seems to have been a bear of great celebrity. Dryden honours him by another notice in the second Prologue on the Union of the Companies:They roar so loud, you'd think, behind the stairs,Tom Dove, and all the brotherhood of bears.[64]Quack Maurus is the noted Sir Richard Blackmore, who, if he was not witty himself, was the cause of more wit in others than most who have favoured the world with their writings. In his Satire against Wit, he had proposed a sort of mint, in which the works of the witty should be purified and re-coined:'Tis true, that, when the coarse and worthless drossIs purged away, there will be mighty loss:Even Congreve, Southerne, Manly, Wycherly,When thus refined, will grievous sufferers be:Into the melting-pot when Dryden comes,What horrid stench will rise, what noisome!How will he shrink when all his lewd allayAnd wicked mixture shall be purged away?In the first edition of the Poem, this lumbering attack upon Dryden concluded with a compliment:But what remains will be so pure, 'twill bearThe examination of the most severe.But Blackmore, when our author had retaliated upon him in the Preface to the Fables, "finding," says Dr Johnson, "the censure resented, and the civility disregarded, ungenerously omitted the softer part. Such variations discover a writer who consults his passions more than his virtue, and it may be reasonably supposed that Dryden attributes his enmity to its true cause,"—his attack upon Blackmore's fanatic patrons in the city. He had also assailed our author in the Preface to his "Prince Arthur;" which, after a general and bitter complaint of the profligacy of the stage, contains these personal remarks levelled against Dryden. "And there are, among these writers, some who think they might have arisen to the highest dignities in other professions, had they employed their wit in those ways. 'Tis a mighty dishonour and reproach to any man, that is capable of being useful to the world in any liberal or virtuous profession, to lavish out his life and wit in propagating vice and corruption of manners, and in battering from the stage the strongest entrenchments and best works of religion and virtue. Whoever makes this his choice, when the other was in his power, may he go off the stage unpitied, complaining ofneglectandpoverty, the just punishment of his irreligion and folly." This reproach, which touched some very tender points, was not to be tolerated or forgot by Dryden.[65]Blackmore was a commoner of Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he remained thirteen years, and took the degree of Master of Arts on 3d June, 1676; but he did not take his medical degrees there, and appears not to have studied physic regularly, as he was for some time a school-master; when, according to Col. Coddrington,By nature formed, by want a pedant made,Blackmore at first set up the whipping trade;Next quack commenced, when fierce with pride he swore,That toothache, gout, and corns, should be no more:In vain his drugs, as well as birch he plied,His boys grow blockheads, and his patients died.Sir Richard Blackmore had his medical diploma from Padua, in Italy; a learned and eminent University, which, like some in my own country, is supposed not to be over scrupulous in conferring honours of this nature.[66]"Prince Arthur," a heroic poem, in ten books, published in 1695, was written, the author assures us in his Preface, "by such catches and starts, and in such occasional uncertain hours, as his profession afforded, and for the greatest part in coffee-houses, or in passing up and down the streets."[67]Who was the first of these well-judging monarchs, is hard to say. Blackmore may have had some sort of royal licence for the practice of physic during the reign of Charles or James; but he was not made physician to the Household till the reign of King William, who conferred on him, at the same time, the honour of knighthood; for which that monarch's taste is thus commemorated by Pope:The hero William, and the martyr Charles,One knighted Blackmore, and one pensioned Quarles.Blackmore's dulness, or solidity of temper, rendered him absolutely impenetrable to the shafts of ridicule, which were aimed at him from all quarters; and, consoling himself with the excellence of his intentions, he wrote on till the catalogue of his worksgave room for Swift's burlesque inscription, to be placed under his picture:See, who ne'er was, or will be half read,Who first sung Arthur, then sung Alfred(a).Praised great Eliza(b) in God's anger,Till all true Englishmen cried, hang her:Made William's virtues wipe the bare a—,And hanged up Marlborough in arras;(c)Then hissed from earth, grown heavenly quite,Made every reader curse the light(d).Mauled human wit in one thick satire(e);Next, in three books, spoiled human nature(f);Ended Creation(g) at a jerk,And of Redemption(h) made damned work:Then took his muse at once, and dipped herFull in the middle of the scripture.What wonders there the man grown old did!Sternhold himself he out-sternholded;Made David(i) seem so mad and freakish,All thought him just what thought king Achish.No mortal read his Solomon(k),But judged R'oboam his own son.Moses(l) he served, as Moses Pharoah,And Deborah as she Sisera;Made Jeremy(m) full sore to cry,And Job(n) himself curse God and die.What punishment shall all this follow?Shall Arthur use him like king Tollo?Shall David as Uriah slay him?Or dexterous Deborah Siserhah him?Or shall Eliza lay a plot,To treat him like her sister Scot?Shall William dubb his better end(o)?Of Marlborough serve him like a friend?No, none of these—heaven spare his life,But send him, honest Job—thy wife.(a)Two Heroic Poems, in folio; twenty books.(b)A Heroic Poem, in twelve books.(c)Instructions to a Tapestry Weaver.(d)Hymn to the Light.(e)Satire against Wit.(f)Of the Mature of Man.(g)Creation, in seven books.(h)Redemption, in six books.(i)Translation of all the Psalms.(k)Canticles and Ecclesiastes.(l)Canticles, of Moses, Deborah, &c.(m)The Lamentations.(n)The whole Book of Job, a Poem, in folio.(o)Kick him on the breech, not knight him on the shoulder.[68]The meteoric appearances, called by sailors in the Mediterranean the Lights of St Elmo, and by the ancients, Castor and Pollux. Their appearance is supposed to presage the safety of the vessel, and the termination of the storm.[69]"Nay, I dare boldly say, one man might with more safety have killed another, than a rascal deer: but if a stag had been known to have miscarried, and the author fled, a proclamation, with a description of the party, had been presently penned by the Attorney-general, and the penalty of his Majesty's high displeasure (by which was understood the Star-Chamber) threatened against all that did abet, comfort, or relieve him. Thus satirical, or, if you please, tragical, was this sylvan prince against deer-killers, and indulgent to men-slayers. But, lest this expression should be thought too poetical for an historian, I shall leave him dressed to posterity in the colours I saw him in the next progress after his inauguration; which was as green as the grass he trod on, with a feather in his cap, and a horn, instead of a sword, by his side: how suitable to his age, calling, or complexion, I leave others to judge from his pictures; he owning a countenance not in the least semblable to any my eyes ever met with, besides an host, dwelling in Amt-hill, formerly a shepherd, and so metaphorically of the same profession."—Osborne's Traditional Memorials, § 17.[70]"I have sent the kyng," says Thomas Randolph, in a letter to the infamous Archibald Douglas, "two hunting men, very good and skillful, with one footman, that can whoop, hollow, and cry, that all the trees in Falkland will quake for fear. Pray the king's majesty to be merciful to the poor bucks."Murdin's State Papers, vol. ii. p. 558.[71]The archbishop of York, in a remarkable letter to Lord Cranbourne, expresses his wish for "more moderation in the lawful exercise of hunting, both that poor men's corn may be less spoiled, and other his Majesty's subjects more spared." To this Lord Cranbourne answers, courtier-like, that, as it was a praise in the good Emperor Trajan, to be disposed to such manlike and active recreations, so it ought to be a joy to the English to behold a prince, of so able a constitution, promising long life and a numerous progeny.Lodge's Illustrations of English History, vol. iii. pp. 251, 263[72]"There is no news we hear, but a reasonable pretty jest is spoken that happened at Royston.—There was one of the king's special hounds, called Jowler, missing one day; the king was much displeased that he was wanted, notwithstanding went a hunting. The next day, when they were in the field, Jowler came in among the rest of the hounds; the king was told of him, and was very glad, and, looking on him, spied a paper about his neck, and in the paper was written—'Good Mr Jowler,—We pray you speak to the king, for he hears you every day, and so doth he not us; that it will please his Majesty to go back to London, for else the country will be undone. All our provision is spent already, and we are not able to entertain him longer.' It was taken for a jest, and so passed over, for his Majesty intends to lye there yet a fortnight."Lodge's Illustrations, vol. iii. p. 245. There is also in theNugæ Antiquæ, a most singular letter of the king's, praying God to thank the master of the horse, for providing him such fair well shaped horse, and such a fine pretty kennel of young hounds. Vol. i. p. 394.[73]See theNugæ Antiquæ. In vol. i. p. 349. of Mr Park's excellent edition, Sir John Harrington gives the following extraordinary account of one of King James's revels with Christian IV. of Denmark.—"One day a great feast was held, and, after dinner, the representation of Solomon his Temple, and the coming of the queen of Sheba, was made (or, as I may better say) was meant to have been made, before their majesties, by device of the earl of Salisbury and others. But, alas! as all earthly things do fail to poor mortals in enjoyment, so did prove our presentment hereof. The ladie, who did play the queen's part, did carry most precious gifts to both their majesties; but, forgetting the steps arising to the canopy, overset her caskets into his Danish majesties lap, and fell at his feet, though I rather think it was in his face. Much was the hurry and confusion; clothes and napkins were at hand to make all clean. His majesty then got up, and would dance with the queen of Sheba, but he fell down and humbled himself before her, and was carried to an inner chamber, and laid upon a bed of state, which was not a little defiled with the presents of the queen, which had been bestowed on his garments; such as wine, cream, jelly, beverage, cakes, spices, and other good matters. The entertainment and showwent forward, and most of the presenterswent backward, or fell down: wine did so occupy their upper chambers. Now did appear, in rich dresses, Hope, Faith, and Charity: Hope did essay to speak, but wine rendered her endeavours so feeble, that she withdrew, andhopedthe king would excuse her brevity: Faith was then left all alone, for I am certain she was not joined with good works, and left the court in a staggering condition: Charity came to the king's feet, and seemed to cover the multitude of sins her sisters had committed; in some sort she made obeisance, and brought gifts, but said she would return home again, as there was no gift which heaven had not already given his majesty. She then returned to Hope and Faith, who were both sick, and spewing in the lower hall. Next came Victory, in bright armour, and presented a rich sword to the king, who did not accept it, but put it by with his hand, and by a strange medley of versification, did endeavour to make suit to the king. But Victory did not triumph long; for, after much lamentable utterance, she was led away like a silly captive, and laid to sleep on the outer steps of the anti-chamber. Now did Peace make entry, and strove to get foremost to the king; but I grieve to tell how great wrath she did discover unto those of her attendants, and, much contrary to her semblance, most rudely made war with her olive-branch, and laid on the pates of those who did oppose her coming. I have much marvelled at these strange pageantries; and they do bring to my remembrance what past of this sort in our queen's days, of which I was sometime a humble presenter and assistant, but I ne'er did see such lack of good order, discretion, and sobriety, as I have now done. I have passed much time in seeing the royal sports of hunting and hawking, where the manners were such as made me devise the beasts were pursuing the sober creation, and not man, in quest of exercise and food. I will now, in good sooth, declare to you, who will not blab, that the gun-powder fright is got out of all our heads, and we are going on hereabouts as if the devil was contriving every man should blow up himself by wild riot, excess, and devastation of time and temperance."—Ibid. Letter from Sir John Harrington to Mr Secretary Barlow, 1606.[74]The first edition, and some others, haveGood; but I preferGod, as the more poetical reading.[75]There seems here to be a secret allusion to the exile of the beautiful queen of James II., so much admired by the Tory poets of the time.[76]The facetious Joe Haines, who is mentioned at the end of the epilogue, assigned another motive for this assault: "The clergy and the actors are both moral menders by profession," said the wag; "and you know two of a trade can never agree."—Cibber's Apology.[77]The rigour of the republicans against female frailty, was of a piece with their general hypocrisy. It was, however, carried much farther in Scotland, where open adultery was declared by statute a capital crime. That act is still unrepealed, and may remind the reader of a verse I have somewhere read:Beware, ye knights on British ground,Beware, ye dames so free;Full many a neck so straight and roundOn gallows stretched might be.[78]The infamous Oates fared, at the Revolution, not so well as he wished, though much better than he deserved. James II. by the extreme cruelty of the punishment, which Jefferies doomed, and he suffered to be inflicted, contrived to excite the public commiseration even in favour of this miscreant, whose forsworn tongue had occasioned more murders than the dagger of the most sanguinary bravo. After the Revolution he obtained a pardon, or rather remission of his inhuman sentence, to be imprisoned during life, and pilloried five times every year. He was also admitted to the comforts of a pension of L.400 a-year. But, although he bestirred himself to obtain a reversal of his judgement for perjury, and wrote an abusive pamphlet, entitled, a "Picture of the late King James," and dedicated to King William, that cool-headed monarch, and his sagacious council, would never restore him to a capacity of bearing evidence. The Earl of Danby, now Duke of Leeds, who had experienced the danger of his swearing capacity, would consent to the reversal in no other sense, than that, having been condemned to be scourged from Newgate to Tyburn, he should now be scourged back from Tyburn to Newgate. Dryden, therefore, without fear of offence, might venture a stroke of satire at this once formidable person.[79]The allusion seems to be partly to Bryan Haines, the Tory evidence against Shaftesbury and College, a fellow almost as infamous as Oates; but chiefly, by way of equivoque, to the wicked wag Jee Haines, the comedian, who, amongst other pranks, chose, during the reign of James II., to become Roman Catholic. Whether he took this step from any serious prospect of advantage, or to throw ridicule on the new converts, is somewhat dubious; at least his apostacy was not founded upon conviction for, after the Revolution, he abjured the errors of Popery, spoke a penitentiary prologue, and reconciled himself to the church and theatre of England.

[1]This caution is given by Mercury in the prologue."Nunc internosse ut vos possitis facilius,Ego has habebo hic usque in petaso pinnulas,Tum meo patri autem torulus inerit aureusSub petaso: Id signum Amphitruoni non erit.Ea signa nemo horumce familiariumVideri poterit; verum vos videbitis."

[1]This caution is given by Mercury in the prologue.

"Nunc internosse ut vos possitis facilius,Ego has habebo hic usque in petaso pinnulas,Tum meo patri autem torulus inerit aureusSub petaso: Id signum Amphitruoni non erit.Ea signa nemo horumce familiariumVideri poterit; verum vos videbitis."

"Nunc internosse ut vos possitis facilius,

Ego has habebo hic usque in petaso pinnulas,

Tum meo patri autem torulus inerit aureus

Sub petaso: Id signum Amphitruoni non erit.

Ea signa nemo horumce familiarium

Videri poterit; verum vos videbitis."

[2]This gentleman united in his person the ancient families of Gower and Leveson. He was second son of Sir Thomas Gower, bart., and succeeded to the title and estate, by the death of his nephew, Sir Edward Gower, in the year before. He was a keen whig, and distinguished himself, both by his attachment to Monmouth, and his zeal for the Revolution; but his alliance with Lawrence Earl of Rochester, whose eldest son, Lord Hyde, had married his daughter, might smooth our poet's access to his favour; since Rochester is distinguished as his constant patron. Dryden also refers to former passages of intimacy between him and Sir William. Above all, we are to suppose that, in admiration of our author's poetical talents, Sir William Gower was capable of drowning every unfavourable recollection of his political tenets. Sir William Leveson Gower is ancestor of the present Marquis of Stafford.

[3]A noble seat in Staffordshire, inhabited by Sir William Gower, from the Levesons, his maternal ancestors.

[4]Betterton, having recovered the dislike to operas, which the failure of "Albion and Albanius" occasioned, had brought out the "Prophetess," of Beaumont and Fletcher, shortened and altered into a musical piece, which was set by the famous Purcell. Dr. Burney has sanctioned the compliment, which Dryden bestows upon it. There is something in our author's turn of expression, which may lead us to infer, that he was but a recent convert to the English school of music. Sir John Hawkins seems to be mistaken, in placing this opera posterior to that of "Prince Arthur." The dances were invented by the celebrated Priest.

[5]Under this poetical appellation, the author here, and in the dedication to "Cleomenes," celebrates Jane Lady Hyde, daughter to Sir William L. Gower, and wife, as has been noticed, to Henry Lord Hyde; eldest son of Lawrence Earl of Rochester.

[6]Julian, who styled himself secretary to the muses, made a dirty livelihood, by copying and dispersing lampoons at the Wits' coffee-house. He was the subject of a copy of verses, which the reader will find among those ascribed to Dryden on doubtful authority.

[7]The poetasters of that age were so numerous, and so active, that the most deplorable attempt at wit, or satire, was usually answered in one which was yet worse. Parody and personal abuse were the implements of this warfare, which sometimes extended to answers, replies, rejoinders, rebutters, and sur-rebutters, all only distinguished by malignant scurrility.

[8]The author alludes to some popular tales of the day, or perhaps of former; but the editor confesses himself unable to trace the reference.

[9]The infamous Scroggs, and several of Charles the Second's judges, had huffed, and roared, and ranted, and domineered, over the unfortunate victims, who suffered for the Popish Plot; and had been equally partial to prerogative, when the king's party attained a decided ascendancy.

[10]The author acknowledges, with gratitude, the opinion of his "first and best patroness, the duchess of Monmouth," which, to the author of "Absalom and Achitophel," must have excited a strange mixture of recollections and emotions. The judgment of that accomplished lady alleged the fairy kind of writing, which depends only on the force of imagination, as the grounds for liking a piece which has that chiefly to recommend it.

[11]Tasso's "Gierusaleme Liberata."

[12]We have often occasion, in these notes, to mention the Marquis of Halifax. He was originally Sir George Saville, Baronet; but, being early characterized by unmatched dexterity in political intrigue, he successively attained the rank of Viscount, Earl, and, in 1682, Marquis of Halifax. He acted alternately for the people against the Crown, and for the Crown against the people; for he delighted in nice and delicate strokes of policy, and in balancing, by a slight but well-applied exertion, the sinking against the rising faction. Hence he was accounted the head of the little faction called Trimmers; and hence his counsels became particularly acceptable to Charles II., whose administration he guided, as Lord Privy Seal, during the last years of that monarch's life. The king had no mind that the high-flying tories should attain an absolute predominance; for he feared his brother, who had placed himself at their head, and he loved Monmouth, who was the object of their most violent hatred. Still less could he be supposed to favour the whigs, whose ranks contained many determined republicans. A minister, therefore, whose ingenious and versatile councils could enable him to check the triumph of the tories, without too much encouraging the whigs, was a treasure to him,—and just such a minister was Halifax. Our author therefore dedicates to him, with great propriety, a piece written for Charles, when Halifax was his favourite minister; and the subjects of eulogium are chosen with Dryden's usual felicity. Some allowance must doubtless be made, for the indispensible obligation which compelled a dedicator to view the conduct of his patron on the favourable side. Such an unfortunate wight cannot be reasonably tied down to uniformity of sentiment in different addresses. The character of Dryden's immediate patron was always his cue for praise: if he stood forward against a predominant party, he was necessarily Cato, the most virtuous of men; if he yielded to the torrent, he was Phocion or Cicero, and Cato was a fool to him. With the few grains of allowance which his situation required, Dryden's praise of Halifax is an honest panegyric. It is certain, his wisdom prevented a civil war in the last years of the reign of Charles, and indirectly led the way to a bloodless revolution. The age in which he lived was therefore so far indebted to him, as our author has elegantly said, for the lives of husbands and of children, for property unviolated, and wealth undiminished. Nor does the present owe him less; for, when is it that a government, erected by a party successful in civil dissention, does not far exceed their just, and even their original pretensions? The parties had each founded their plea and their pretensions upon sacred and integral parts of the constitution, as the contending factions of the Jews occupied, the one the temple, and the other the palace of Jerusalem. In a civil war, one bulwark or other must have fallen with the party which it sheltered; and it was only the Revolution of 1688, which, leaving both whig and tory in full strength, compelled them mutually to respect the constitutional vantage-ground assumed by each other.

[13]Lord Halifax was unquestionably a man of wit; and we have some tolerable bon mots of his, handed down by his contemporaries. Burnet says, "The liveliness of his imagination was always too hard for his judgment. A severe jest was preferred by him to all arguments whatever; and he was endless in consultations; for when, after much discourse, a point was settled, if he could find a new jest to make even that which was suggested by himself ridiculous, he could not hold, but would study to raise the credit of his wit, though it made others call his judgment in question." We may not, perhaps, refine too far in supposing, that the bishop was not always able to estimate the policy of this subtle statesman. It was more frequently his wish to avoid taking decisive steps than to recommend them; and what could more effectually retard violent councils than the conduct remarked by Burnet, or what argument would have weighed with Charles II. like a keen jest?

[14]The Roman veterans were dismissed after twenty years service; a regulation equally politic and humane. In 1691 a French invasion, in behalf of King James, appeared not improbable.

[15]We cannot trace the result of this study any where but in the song of the Saxon priests; and it did not surely require much reading to glean up the names of the Saxon deities, which are almost the only traits of national manners exhibited through the drama.

[16]Under that of Jotham in "Absalom and Achitophel."

[17]The ancient game of shovel-board was played by sliding pieces of money along a smooth table, something on the principle of billiards. The allusion seems to be the same as if a modern poet had said, that a feeble player at billiards runs no risk of pocketing his own ball. The reader will find a variety of passages concerning this pastime in the notes of the various commentators upon a passage in the "Merry Wives of Windsor," where Slender enumerates among the contents of his pocket, when picked by Pistol, "two Edward shovel-boards," that is, two broad shillings of Edward VI. used for playing at this game. In some old halls the shovel-board table is still preserved, and sometimes used.

[18]Cardinal Ottoboni, a Venetian by birth, succeeded to the tiara on the death of Innocent XI., and assumed the name of Alexander VIII. He was, like his predecessor, an enemy to France, and maintained the privileges of the Holy See, both in the point of the regale, and in refusing to grant bulls to those French bishops who had signed the formulary of 1682, by which the Pope was declared fallible, and subject to the decrees of a general council. His death took place during the congress of 1690. It was therefore a recent event when this play was first represented, and the disposition of his successor, towards the French or Imperial Courts, was matter of anxious speculation to the politicians of the day.

[19]In imitation of the blind man, who said, that "red resembled the sound of a trumpet."

[20]One virtue ascribed by Odinn to the Runick characters was, to blunt the weapons of an enemy.

[21]In this Ode is contained all the use which our poet made of his knowledge of the Saxon manners, gleaned from Bede and Bochart. It is certain, that the Saxons, like the other Northmen, used the horrible superstition of human sacrifices. Woden, Freya or Frigga his wife, and Thor the god of war, were worshipped by the Saxons with probably the same attributes ascribed to them as in Denmark and Sweden. The casting of lots is mentioned by Alfred in his version of Bede,pluton mid tanum, "they cast lots with twigs." Much, and most extensive learning, has been displayed on the subject, by Mr Turner, in the fourth volume of his Anglo-Saxon History.

[22]This long stage direction contains an attempt to render interesting what is necessarily ridiculous. With all the assistance of bloody spunges, a stage combat must be always a ludicrous representation of a real one. We are content, in old plays, to let it pass, as a hieroglyphic, which conveys to us the author's meaning; but modern dramatists would do well to obscure their combats, if the termination is to be a bloody one.

[23]The Nine Worthies were equally divided among three religions; namely, Three Pagans, Hector, Pompey, and Alexander the Great; three Jews, Joshua, David, and Judas Machabæus; and three Christians, Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Boulogne.

[24]In this passage, Dryden's discontent with the existing circumstances glances out: It is probable, that much was here omitted, or altered, which would have adorned the termination of the piece, had it been represented to Charles II. as originally designed by the author.

[25]With a slight alteration in spelling, a modern poet would have writtenBond-Streetbeaux. A billet-doux fromBow-Streetwould be now more alarming than flattering.

[26]The whole passage is so very fine, that I think I may venture to extract it from this beautiful and forgotten tragedy. Caratach and Hengo, the uncle and nephew, are besieged on a rock by the Romans, and reduced to extremity by hunger. They are decoyed by some food, hung on a rock by the centurion Judas.CaratachandHengoon the rock.Caratach.Courage, my boy! I have found meat: Look, Hengo,Look where some blessed Briton, to preserve thee,Was hung a little food and drink; cheer up, boy,Do not forsake me now!Hengo.Oh uncle, uncle,I feel I cannot stay long; yet I'll fetch it,To keep your noble life. Uncle, I'm heart-whole,And would live.Car.Thou shalt, long, I hope.Hengo.But my head, uncle!Methinks the rock goes round.Enter, below,MacerandJudas,Romans.Macer.Mark them well, Judas.Judas.Peace, as you love your life.Hengo.Do not you hearThe noise of bells?Car.Of bells, boy? 'tis thy fancy;Alas, thy body's full of wind!Hengo.Methinks, sir,They ring a strange sad knell, a preparationTo some near funeral of state.—Nay, weep not,Mine own sweet uncle; you will kill me sooner.Car.Oh, my poor chicken!Hengo.Fie, faint-hearted uncle!Come, tie me in your belt, and let me down.Car.I'll go myself, boy.Hengo.No, as you love me, uncle;I will not eat it, if I do not fetch it;The danger only I desire: pray tie me.Car.I will, and all my care hang o'er thee! Come, child,My valiant child.Hengo.Let me down apace, uncle;And you shall see how, like a daw, I'll whip itFrom all their policies; for 'tis most certainA Roman train; and you must hold me sure too;You'll spoil all else. When I have brought it, uncle,We'll be as merry——Car.Go, in the name of heaven, boy.—[Lets him down.Hengo.Quick, quick, good uncle! I have it—Oh![JudasshootsHengo.Car.What ailest thou?Hengo.Oh, my best uncle, I am slain!Car.I see you,And heaven direct my hand.—[He killsJudaswith a stone.DestructionGo with thy coward soul!—How dost thou, boy?—Oh villain, pocky villain!Hengo.Oh, uncle, uncle,Oh how it pricks me! Am I preserved for this?Extremely pricks me.Car.Coward, rascal coward!Dogs eat thy flesh!Hengo.Oh, I bleed hard! I faint too; out upon't,How sick I am!—the lean rogue, uncle!Car.Look, boy;I've laid him sure enough.Hengo.Have you knocked his brains out?Car.I warrant thee, for stirring more; cheer up, child.Hengo.Hold my sides hard; stop, stop; oh, wretched fortune,Must we part thus? Still I grow sicker, uncle.Car.Heaven look upon this noble child!Hengo.I once hopedI should have lived to have met these bloody RomansAt my sword's point, to have revenged my father,To have beaten them. Oh hold me hard!—but, uncle—Car.Thou shalt live still, I hope, boy. Shall I draw it?Hengo.You draw away my soul, then. I would liveA little longer; spare me, heavens! but onlyTo thank you for your tender love. Good uncle,Good noble uncle, weep not.Car.Oh my chicken,My dear boy, what shall I lose!Hengo.Why, a childThat must have died however; had this 'scaped me,Fever or famine. I was born to die, sir.Car.But thus unblown, my boy?Hengo.I go the straighterMy journey to the Gods. Sure I shall know youWhen you come, uncle?Car.Yes, boy.Hengo.And I hopeWe shall enjoy together that great blessednessYou told me of?Car.Most certain, child.Hengo.I grow cold;Mine eyes are going.Car.Lift them up.Hengo.Pray for me—And, noble uncle, when my bones are ashes,Think of your little nephew! mercy!—Car.Mercy!You blessed angels, take him!Hengo.Kiss me—so—Farewell, farewell![Dies.Car.Farewell the hopes of Britain!Thou royal graft, farewell for ever!—Time and death,Ye've done your worst. Fortune, now see, now proudlyPluck off thy veil, and view thy triumph; look,Look what thou hast brought this land to.—Oh, fair flower,How lovely yet thy ruins show! how sweetlyEven death embraces thee! The peace of heaven,The fellowship of all great souls, be with thee!The Tragedy of Bonduca, act v.This extract is perhaps longer than necessary; but, independently of its extreme beauty, it serves to justify the observation in the text, that Dryden had the recollection of Hengo strongly in his memory while composing the character of Cleonidas. Both are extenuated by hunger, and both killed insidiously by a cowardly enemy; and the reader will discover more minute resemblances to the very dialogue of Beaumont and Fletcher on perusing p. 209, and pp. 324, 325. I do Dryden no injury in ascribing a decided superiority to the more ancient dramatists.]

CaratachandHengoon the rock.Caratach.Courage, my boy! I have found meat: Look, Hengo,Look where some blessed Briton, to preserve thee,Was hung a little food and drink; cheer up, boy,Do not forsake me now!Hengo.Oh uncle, uncle,I feel I cannot stay long; yet I'll fetch it,To keep your noble life. Uncle, I'm heart-whole,And would live.Car.Thou shalt, long, I hope.Hengo.But my head, uncle!Methinks the rock goes round.Enter, below,MacerandJudas,Romans.Macer.Mark them well, Judas.Judas.Peace, as you love your life.Hengo.Do not you hearThe noise of bells?Car.Of bells, boy? 'tis thy fancy;Alas, thy body's full of wind!Hengo.Methinks, sir,They ring a strange sad knell, a preparationTo some near funeral of state.—Nay, weep not,Mine own sweet uncle; you will kill me sooner.Car.Oh, my poor chicken!Hengo.Fie, faint-hearted uncle!Come, tie me in your belt, and let me down.Car.I'll go myself, boy.Hengo.No, as you love me, uncle;I will not eat it, if I do not fetch it;The danger only I desire: pray tie me.Car.I will, and all my care hang o'er thee! Come, child,My valiant child.Hengo.Let me down apace, uncle;And you shall see how, like a daw, I'll whip itFrom all their policies; for 'tis most certainA Roman train; and you must hold me sure too;You'll spoil all else. When I have brought it, uncle,We'll be as merry——Car.Go, in the name of heaven, boy.—[Lets him down.Hengo.Quick, quick, good uncle! I have it—Oh![JudasshootsHengo.Car.What ailest thou?Hengo.Oh, my best uncle, I am slain!Car.I see you,And heaven direct my hand.—[He killsJudaswith a stone.DestructionGo with thy coward soul!—How dost thou, boy?—Oh villain, pocky villain!Hengo.Oh, uncle, uncle,Oh how it pricks me! Am I preserved for this?Extremely pricks me.Car.Coward, rascal coward!Dogs eat thy flesh!Hengo.Oh, I bleed hard! I faint too; out upon't,How sick I am!—the lean rogue, uncle!Car.Look, boy;I've laid him sure enough.Hengo.Have you knocked his brains out?Car.I warrant thee, for stirring more; cheer up, child.Hengo.Hold my sides hard; stop, stop; oh, wretched fortune,Must we part thus? Still I grow sicker, uncle.Car.Heaven look upon this noble child!Hengo.I once hopedI should have lived to have met these bloody RomansAt my sword's point, to have revenged my father,To have beaten them. Oh hold me hard!—but, uncle—Car.Thou shalt live still, I hope, boy. Shall I draw it?Hengo.You draw away my soul, then. I would liveA little longer; spare me, heavens! but onlyTo thank you for your tender love. Good uncle,Good noble uncle, weep not.Car.Oh my chicken,My dear boy, what shall I lose!Hengo.Why, a childThat must have died however; had this 'scaped me,Fever or famine. I was born to die, sir.Car.But thus unblown, my boy?Hengo.I go the straighterMy journey to the Gods. Sure I shall know youWhen you come, uncle?Car.Yes, boy.Hengo.And I hopeWe shall enjoy together that great blessednessYou told me of?Car.Most certain, child.Hengo.I grow cold;Mine eyes are going.Car.Lift them up.Hengo.Pray for me—And, noble uncle, when my bones are ashes,Think of your little nephew! mercy!—Car.Mercy!You blessed angels, take him!Hengo.Kiss me—so—Farewell, farewell![Dies.Car.Farewell the hopes of Britain!Thou royal graft, farewell for ever!—Time and death,Ye've done your worst. Fortune, now see, now proudlyPluck off thy veil, and view thy triumph; look,Look what thou hast brought this land to.—Oh, fair flower,How lovely yet thy ruins show! how sweetlyEven death embraces thee! The peace of heaven,The fellowship of all great souls, be with thee!The Tragedy of Bonduca, act v.

CaratachandHengoon the rock.

Caratach.Courage, my boy! I have found meat: Look, Hengo,Look where some blessed Briton, to preserve thee,Was hung a little food and drink; cheer up, boy,Do not forsake me now!

Caratach.Courage, my boy! I have found meat: Look, Hengo,

Look where some blessed Briton, to preserve thee,

Was hung a little food and drink; cheer up, boy,

Do not forsake me now!

Hengo.Oh uncle, uncle,I feel I cannot stay long; yet I'll fetch it,To keep your noble life. Uncle, I'm heart-whole,And would live.

Hengo.Oh uncle, uncle,

I feel I cannot stay long; yet I'll fetch it,

To keep your noble life. Uncle, I'm heart-whole,

And would live.

Car.Thou shalt, long, I hope.

Hengo.But my head, uncle!Methinks the rock goes round.

Hengo.But my head, uncle!

Methinks the rock goes round.

Enter, below,MacerandJudas,Romans.

Macer.Mark them well, Judas.

Judas.Peace, as you love your life.

Hengo.Do not you hearThe noise of bells?

Hengo.Do not you hear

The noise of bells?

Car.Of bells, boy? 'tis thy fancy;Alas, thy body's full of wind!

Car.Of bells, boy? 'tis thy fancy;

Alas, thy body's full of wind!

Hengo.Methinks, sir,They ring a strange sad knell, a preparationTo some near funeral of state.—Nay, weep not,Mine own sweet uncle; you will kill me sooner.

Hengo.Methinks, sir,

They ring a strange sad knell, a preparation

To some near funeral of state.—Nay, weep not,

Mine own sweet uncle; you will kill me sooner.

Car.Oh, my poor chicken!

Hengo.Fie, faint-hearted uncle!Come, tie me in your belt, and let me down.

Hengo.Fie, faint-hearted uncle!

Come, tie me in your belt, and let me down.

Car.I'll go myself, boy.

Hengo.No, as you love me, uncle;I will not eat it, if I do not fetch it;The danger only I desire: pray tie me.

Hengo.No, as you love me, uncle;

I will not eat it, if I do not fetch it;

The danger only I desire: pray tie me.

Car.I will, and all my care hang o'er thee! Come, child,My valiant child.

Car.I will, and all my care hang o'er thee! Come, child,

My valiant child.

Hengo.Let me down apace, uncle;And you shall see how, like a daw, I'll whip itFrom all their policies; for 'tis most certainA Roman train; and you must hold me sure too;You'll spoil all else. When I have brought it, uncle,We'll be as merry——

Hengo.Let me down apace, uncle;

And you shall see how, like a daw, I'll whip it

From all their policies; for 'tis most certain

A Roman train; and you must hold me sure too;

You'll spoil all else. When I have brought it, uncle,

We'll be as merry——

Car.Go, in the name of heaven, boy.—[Lets him down.

Hengo.Quick, quick, good uncle! I have it—Oh![JudasshootsHengo.

Hengo.Quick, quick, good uncle! I have it—Oh!

[JudasshootsHengo.

Car.What ailest thou?

Hengo.Oh, my best uncle, I am slain!

Car.I see you,And heaven direct my hand.—[He killsJudaswith a stone.DestructionGo with thy coward soul!—How dost thou, boy?—Oh villain, pocky villain!

Car.I see you,

And heaven direct my hand.—[He killsJudaswith a stone.

Destruction

Go with thy coward soul!—How dost thou, boy?—

Oh villain, pocky villain!

Hengo.Oh, uncle, uncle,Oh how it pricks me! Am I preserved for this?Extremely pricks me.

Hengo.Oh, uncle, uncle,

Oh how it pricks me! Am I preserved for this?

Extremely pricks me.

Car.Coward, rascal coward!Dogs eat thy flesh!

Car.Coward, rascal coward!

Dogs eat thy flesh!

Hengo.Oh, I bleed hard! I faint too; out upon't,How sick I am!—the lean rogue, uncle!

Hengo.Oh, I bleed hard! I faint too; out upon't,

How sick I am!—the lean rogue, uncle!

Car.Look, boy;I've laid him sure enough.

Car.Look, boy;

I've laid him sure enough.

Hengo.Have you knocked his brains out?

Car.I warrant thee, for stirring more; cheer up, child.

Hengo.Hold my sides hard; stop, stop; oh, wretched fortune,Must we part thus? Still I grow sicker, uncle.

Hengo.Hold my sides hard; stop, stop; oh, wretched fortune,

Must we part thus? Still I grow sicker, uncle.

Car.Heaven look upon this noble child!

Hengo.I once hopedI should have lived to have met these bloody RomansAt my sword's point, to have revenged my father,To have beaten them. Oh hold me hard!—but, uncle—

Hengo.I once hoped

I should have lived to have met these bloody Romans

At my sword's point, to have revenged my father,

To have beaten them. Oh hold me hard!—but, uncle—

Car.Thou shalt live still, I hope, boy. Shall I draw it?

Hengo.You draw away my soul, then. I would liveA little longer; spare me, heavens! but onlyTo thank you for your tender love. Good uncle,Good noble uncle, weep not.

Hengo.You draw away my soul, then. I would live

A little longer; spare me, heavens! but only

To thank you for your tender love. Good uncle,

Good noble uncle, weep not.

Car.Oh my chicken,My dear boy, what shall I lose!

Car.Oh my chicken,

My dear boy, what shall I lose!

Hengo.Why, a childThat must have died however; had this 'scaped me,Fever or famine. I was born to die, sir.

Hengo.Why, a child

That must have died however; had this 'scaped me,

Fever or famine. I was born to die, sir.

Car.But thus unblown, my boy?

Hengo.I go the straighterMy journey to the Gods. Sure I shall know youWhen you come, uncle?

Hengo.I go the straighter

My journey to the Gods. Sure I shall know you

When you come, uncle?

Car.Yes, boy.

Hengo.And I hopeWe shall enjoy together that great blessednessYou told me of?

Hengo.And I hope

We shall enjoy together that great blessedness

You told me of?

Car.Most certain, child.

Hengo.I grow cold;Mine eyes are going.

Hengo.I grow cold;

Mine eyes are going.

Car.Lift them up.

Hengo.Pray for me—And, noble uncle, when my bones are ashes,Think of your little nephew! mercy!—

Hengo.Pray for me—

And, noble uncle, when my bones are ashes,

Think of your little nephew! mercy!—

Car.Mercy!You blessed angels, take him!

Car.Mercy!

You blessed angels, take him!

Hengo.Kiss me—so—Farewell, farewell![Dies.

Hengo.Kiss me—so—

Farewell, farewell![Dies.

Car.Farewell the hopes of Britain!Thou royal graft, farewell for ever!—Time and death,Ye've done your worst. Fortune, now see, now proudlyPluck off thy veil, and view thy triumph; look,Look what thou hast brought this land to.—Oh, fair flower,How lovely yet thy ruins show! how sweetlyEven death embraces thee! The peace of heaven,The fellowship of all great souls, be with thee!

Car.Farewell the hopes of Britain!

Thou royal graft, farewell for ever!—Time and death,

Ye've done your worst. Fortune, now see, now proudly

Pluck off thy veil, and view thy triumph; look,

Look what thou hast brought this land to.—Oh, fair flower,

How lovely yet thy ruins show! how sweetly

Even death embraces thee! The peace of heaven,

The fellowship of all great souls, be with thee!

The Tragedy of Bonduca, act v.

This extract is perhaps longer than necessary; but, independently of its extreme beauty, it serves to justify the observation in the text, that Dryden had the recollection of Hengo strongly in his memory while composing the character of Cleonidas. Both are extenuated by hunger, and both killed insidiously by a cowardly enemy; and the reader will discover more minute resemblances to the very dialogue of Beaumont and Fletcher on perusing p. 209, and pp. 324, 325. I do Dryden no injury in ascribing a decided superiority to the more ancient dramatists.]

[27]This fact is ascertained by the following passage in the Dedication of Southerne's play, called the "Wife's Excuse," to the Honourable Thomas Wharton."These, sir, are capital objections against me; but they hit very few faults, nor have they mortified me into a despair of pleasing the more reasonable part of mankind. If Mr Dryden's judgment goes for any thing, I have it on my side; for, speaking of this play, he has publicly said, "the town was kind to Sir Anthony Love; I needed them only to be just to this;" and to prove there was more than friendship in his opinion, upon the credit of this play with him, falling sick last summer, he bequeathed to my care the half of the last act of his tragedy of "Cleomenes;" which, when it comes into the world, you will find to be so considerable a trust, that all the town will pardon me for defending this play, that preferred me to it. If modesty be sometimes a weakness, what I say can hardly be a crime: in a fair English trial, both parties are allowed to be heard; and, without this vanity of mentioning Mr Dryden, I had lost the best evidence of my cause."I cannot but remark a material difference between this quotation, as here quoted from the 8vo edition of Southerne's Plays, 1774, and as quoted by Mr Malone, who reads "the fifth act," instead of "the halfof the fifthact."

[27]This fact is ascertained by the following passage in the Dedication of Southerne's play, called the "Wife's Excuse," to the Honourable Thomas Wharton.

"These, sir, are capital objections against me; but they hit very few faults, nor have they mortified me into a despair of pleasing the more reasonable part of mankind. If Mr Dryden's judgment goes for any thing, I have it on my side; for, speaking of this play, he has publicly said, "the town was kind to Sir Anthony Love; I needed them only to be just to this;" and to prove there was more than friendship in his opinion, upon the credit of this play with him, falling sick last summer, he bequeathed to my care the half of the last act of his tragedy of "Cleomenes;" which, when it comes into the world, you will find to be so considerable a trust, that all the town will pardon me for defending this play, that preferred me to it. If modesty be sometimes a weakness, what I say can hardly be a crime: in a fair English trial, both parties are allowed to be heard; and, without this vanity of mentioning Mr Dryden, I had lost the best evidence of my cause."

I cannot but remark a material difference between this quotation, as here quoted from the 8vo edition of Southerne's Plays, 1774, and as quoted by Mr Malone, who reads "the fifth act," instead of "the halfof the fifthact."

[28]Motteux, in the "Gentleman's Journal," has announced the prohibition of Cleomenes, and its removal, in a remarkable passage quoted by Mr Malone."I was in hopes to have given you in this letter an account of the acting of Dryden's "Cleomenes:" it was to have appeared upon the stage on Saturday last, and you need not doubt but that the town was big with the expectation of the performance; but orders came from her Majesty to hinder its being acted; so that none can tell when it shall be played.""I told you in my last," says the same writer in the following month, "that none could tell when Mr Dryden's "Cleomenes" would appear. Since that time, the innocence and merit of the play have raised it several eminent advocates, who have prevailed to have it acted; and you need not doubt but it has been with great applause."

[28]Motteux, in the "Gentleman's Journal," has announced the prohibition of Cleomenes, and its removal, in a remarkable passage quoted by Mr Malone.

"I was in hopes to have given you in this letter an account of the acting of Dryden's "Cleomenes:" it was to have appeared upon the stage on Saturday last, and you need not doubt but that the town was big with the expectation of the performance; but orders came from her Majesty to hinder its being acted; so that none can tell when it shall be played."

"I told you in my last," says the same writer in the following month, "that none could tell when Mr Dryden's "Cleomenes" would appear. Since that time, the innocence and merit of the play have raised it several eminent advocates, who have prevailed to have it acted; and you need not doubt but it has been with great applause."

[29]Cibber has thus described Mrs Barry at the time when she was honoured by this high compliment from Dryden:"Mrs Barry was then (in 1690) in possession of almost all the chief parts in tragedy: With what skill she gave life to them, you may judge from the words of Dryden in his preface to "Cleomenes." I perfectly remember her acting that part; and, however unnecessary it may seem to give my judgement after Dryden's, I cannot help saying, I do not only close with his opinion, but will venture to add, that though Dryden has been dead these thirty-eight years, the same compliment to this hour may be due to her excellence. And though she was then not a little past her youth, she was not till that time fully arrived to her maturity of power and judgment. From whence I would observe, that the short life of beauty is not long enough to form a complete actress. In men, the delicacy of person is not so absolutely necessary, nor the decline of it so soon taken notice of. The fame Mrs Barry arrived at, is a particular proof of the difficulty there is in judging with certainty from their first trials, whether young people will ever make any great figure in a theatre. There was, it seems, so little hope of Mrs Barry at her first setting out, that she was at the end of the first year discharged the company, among others that were thought to be a useless expence to it. I take it for granted, that the objection to Mrs Barry at that time must have been a defective ear, or some unskilful dissonance in her manner of pronouncing. But where there is a proper voice and person, with the addition of a good understanding, experience tells us, that such defect is not always invincible; of which not only Mrs Barry, but the late Mrs Oldfield, are eminent instances,—Mrs Barry, in characters of greatness, had a presence of elevated dignity; her mien and motion superb, and gracefully majestic; her voice full, clear, and strong, so that no violence of passion could be too much for her; and when distress or tenderness possessed her, she subsided into the most affecting melody and softness. In the art of exciting pity, she had a power beyond all the actresses I have yet seen, or what your imagination can conceive. Of the former of these two great excellencies, she gave the most delightful proofs in almost all the heroic plays of Dryden and Lee; and of the latter, in the softer passions of Otway's Monimia and Belvidera. In scenes of anger, defiance, or resentment, while she was impetuous and terrible, she poured out the sentiment with an enchanting harmony; and it was this particular excellence for which Dryden made her the above-recited compliment upon her acting Cassandra in his "Cleomenes." But here I am apt to think his partiality for that character may have tempted his judgment to let it pass for her master-piece, when he could not but know there are several other characters in which her action might have given her a fairer pretence to the praise he has bestowed upon her for Cassandra: for in no part of that is there the least ground for compassion, as in Monimia; nor equal cause for admiration, as in the nobler love of Cleopatra, or the tempestuous jealousy of Roxana. 'Twas in these lights I thought Mrs Barry shone with a much brighter excellence than in Cassandra. She was the first person whose merit was distinguished by the indulgence of having an annual benefit-play, which was granted to her alone, if I mistake not, first in King James's time; and which became not common to others, till the division of this company after the death of King William's Queen Mary. This great actress died of a fever towards the latter end of Queen Anne; the year I have forgot, but perhaps you will recollect it by an expression that fell from her in blank verse, in her last hours, when she was delirious, viz.Ha, ha! and so they make us lords by dozens!""And yet (says Antony Aston, in his curious 'Supplement to Cibber's work,') this fine creature was not handsome, her mouth opening most on the right side, which she strove to draw t'other way, and at times composing her face, as if sitting to have her picture drawn. Mrs Barry was middle-sized, and had darkish hair, light eyes, dark eye-brows, and was indifferently plump. She had a manner of drawing out her words, which became her, but not Mrs Bradshaw and Mrs Porter, her successors. Neither she, nor any of the actresses of those times, had any tone in their speech, so much lately in use. In tragedy she was solemn and august; in free comedy, alert, easy, and genteel; pleasant in her face and action; filling the stage with variety of gesture. She was woman to Lady Shelton, of Norfolk, (my godmother,) when Lord Rochester took her on the stage, where for some time they could make nothing of her. She could neither sing nor dance, no not in a country-dance."—Malone, Vol. III. p. 227.

[29]Cibber has thus described Mrs Barry at the time when she was honoured by this high compliment from Dryden:

"Mrs Barry was then (in 1690) in possession of almost all the chief parts in tragedy: With what skill she gave life to them, you may judge from the words of Dryden in his preface to "Cleomenes." I perfectly remember her acting that part; and, however unnecessary it may seem to give my judgement after Dryden's, I cannot help saying, I do not only close with his opinion, but will venture to add, that though Dryden has been dead these thirty-eight years, the same compliment to this hour may be due to her excellence. And though she was then not a little past her youth, she was not till that time fully arrived to her maturity of power and judgment. From whence I would observe, that the short life of beauty is not long enough to form a complete actress. In men, the delicacy of person is not so absolutely necessary, nor the decline of it so soon taken notice of. The fame Mrs Barry arrived at, is a particular proof of the difficulty there is in judging with certainty from their first trials, whether young people will ever make any great figure in a theatre. There was, it seems, so little hope of Mrs Barry at her first setting out, that she was at the end of the first year discharged the company, among others that were thought to be a useless expence to it. I take it for granted, that the objection to Mrs Barry at that time must have been a defective ear, or some unskilful dissonance in her manner of pronouncing. But where there is a proper voice and person, with the addition of a good understanding, experience tells us, that such defect is not always invincible; of which not only Mrs Barry, but the late Mrs Oldfield, are eminent instances,—Mrs Barry, in characters of greatness, had a presence of elevated dignity; her mien and motion superb, and gracefully majestic; her voice full, clear, and strong, so that no violence of passion could be too much for her; and when distress or tenderness possessed her, she subsided into the most affecting melody and softness. In the art of exciting pity, she had a power beyond all the actresses I have yet seen, or what your imagination can conceive. Of the former of these two great excellencies, she gave the most delightful proofs in almost all the heroic plays of Dryden and Lee; and of the latter, in the softer passions of Otway's Monimia and Belvidera. In scenes of anger, defiance, or resentment, while she was impetuous and terrible, she poured out the sentiment with an enchanting harmony; and it was this particular excellence for which Dryden made her the above-recited compliment upon her acting Cassandra in his "Cleomenes." But here I am apt to think his partiality for that character may have tempted his judgment to let it pass for her master-piece, when he could not but know there are several other characters in which her action might have given her a fairer pretence to the praise he has bestowed upon her for Cassandra: for in no part of that is there the least ground for compassion, as in Monimia; nor equal cause for admiration, as in the nobler love of Cleopatra, or the tempestuous jealousy of Roxana. 'Twas in these lights I thought Mrs Barry shone with a much brighter excellence than in Cassandra. She was the first person whose merit was distinguished by the indulgence of having an annual benefit-play, which was granted to her alone, if I mistake not, first in King James's time; and which became not common to others, till the division of this company after the death of King William's Queen Mary. This great actress died of a fever towards the latter end of Queen Anne; the year I have forgot, but perhaps you will recollect it by an expression that fell from her in blank verse, in her last hours, when she was delirious, viz.

Ha, ha! and so they make us lords by dozens!"

"And yet (says Antony Aston, in his curious 'Supplement to Cibber's work,') this fine creature was not handsome, her mouth opening most on the right side, which she strove to draw t'other way, and at times composing her face, as if sitting to have her picture drawn. Mrs Barry was middle-sized, and had darkish hair, light eyes, dark eye-brows, and was indifferently plump. She had a manner of drawing out her words, which became her, but not Mrs Bradshaw and Mrs Porter, her successors. Neither she, nor any of the actresses of those times, had any tone in their speech, so much lately in use. In tragedy she was solemn and august; in free comedy, alert, easy, and genteel; pleasant in her face and action; filling the stage with variety of gesture. She was woman to Lady Shelton, of Norfolk, (my godmother,) when Lord Rochester took her on the stage, where for some time they could make nothing of her. She could neither sing nor dance, no not in a country-dance."—Malone, Vol. III. p. 227.

[30]Dryden had already distinguished Hyde, Earl of Rochester, by inscribing "The Duke of Guise" to him. As he was son of the famous Lord Clarendon, he was, of course, uncle to Queen Mary, by the mother's side, and his protection continued therefore to be respectable, although his political tenets were strongly Jacobitical.

[31]See the end of the 34th and beginning of the 35th canto of the "Orlando Furioso."

[32]The 29th Ode of the First Book. See it among our author's translations from Horace.

[33]These ladies, Mr Malone supposes to be Lord Rochester's two daughters, Henrietta Lady Dalkeith, and Mary Lady Conway, with his daughter-in-law Lady Hyde, the Berenice who is mentioned presently afterward. The Duchess of Ormond, eldest daughter of the Earl, died in 1685, and therefore could not be of the number.

[34]Lady Silvius was the wife of Sir Gabriel Silvius, employed upon various occasions as an English envoy on the Continent.

[35]"As a fair morning of the blessed spring,After a tedious stormy night,Such was the glorious entry of our King;Enriching moisture dropp'd on every thing;Plenty he sow'd below, and cast about him light.But then, alas! to thee aloneOne of old Gideon's miracles was shewn,For every tree and every herb aroundWith pearly dew was crown'd;And upon all the quicken'd groundThe fruitful seed of heaven did brooding lie,And nothing but the Muses' fleece was dry."

[35]

"As a fair morning of the blessed spring,After a tedious stormy night,Such was the glorious entry of our King;Enriching moisture dropp'd on every thing;Plenty he sow'd below, and cast about him light.But then, alas! to thee aloneOne of old Gideon's miracles was shewn,For every tree and every herb aroundWith pearly dew was crown'd;And upon all the quicken'd groundThe fruitful seed of heaven did brooding lie,And nothing but the Muses' fleece was dry."

"As a fair morning of the blessed spring,

After a tedious stormy night,

Such was the glorious entry of our King;

Enriching moisture dropp'd on every thing;

Plenty he sow'd below, and cast about him light.

But then, alas! to thee alone

One of old Gideon's miracles was shewn,

For every tree and every herb around

With pearly dew was crown'd;

And upon all the quicken'd ground

The fruitful seed of heaven did brooding lie,

And nothing but the Muses' fleece was dry."

[36]Anthony, fourth Lord Viscount Falkland, succeeded to that title by the death of his father in 1664. He was a person of wit and honour, as the phrase then was; a character which he maintained by writing prologues, and occasional verses, as well as by keeping company with men of more genius than his own. He died in 1694.

[37]This objection and answer are stated by Steele to have taken place in an extempore conversation betwixt Dryden and a young beau just come from the representation of "Cleomenes."—See theGuardian, No. 45. The retort may doubtless have been first made by the poet in this manner; but it is more probable that Steele either had an inaccurate recollection of the passage, or thought it had a more lively effect when thrown into dialogue.

[38]The enemies of Dryden, imputing to him the pitiful jealousy of which they were probably themselves conscious, pretended, that, envious of the reputation which Creech acquired by his translation of Lucretius, Dryden insidiously pushed him on to attempt a version of Horace, a task for which he was totally unfit, and by which he forfeited all the credit he had gained. The accusation is thus stated by Tom Brown, and may serve for a specimen of the under-bred petulance in which he indulges.Bays."I have a certain profound stratagem still behind, mySacra AnchoraI call it, which is only to be made use of upon extraordinary occasions, and which I was never forced to employ but once in my time, and is as follows: When any young author has been so fortunate in his first undertaking, as to win himself the applause of all the world, so that 'tis impossible for one to ruin his reputation, without running the hazard of having his throat cut by all sort of company, I am as forward as the best of them all to commend his ingenuity, to extol his parts, and promise him a copy of verses before his book, if he honours the world with a second edition.Crites."Very good.Bays."At the same time I privately feel his pulse, and examine the nature, and inclination of the beast. If he chances to be a little saturnine like myself, I set him upon a gay undertaking, where 'tis the devil and all of ill luck if he does not ship-wreck all his former credit. But, if he proves a man of a brisk and jolly temper, I persuade him of all loves to make an experiment of his abilities upon some serious solemn subject; tell him, if ever he expects to be saved, he must out of hand do justice to the Psalms and Canticles, which work he's as incapable to manage, egad, as little David was to fight in Saul's armour. Thus, gentlemen, by engaging the author in a province, where he has not stock enough to carry on the plantation, I never fail one way or other to compass my designs, and, at long-run, to defeat my competitor.Crites."Why, Mr Bays, this is like enjoining a painter, that has a good fancy at drawing of Saracens' heads, and grotesque figures only, to draw you a Venus or an Adonis, where he must certainly miscarry. Now, I am apt to fancy you trepanned the honest translator of Lucretius with this profound piece of policy: Come, confess the truth, man; did you not?Bays."You could not have guessed better, Mr Crites, if you had dived into my diaphragma for the secret. It was not in my power, you must know, either to suppress the work, or to discommend it; because, to give the gentleman his due, it was performed beyond all expectation, and, what was a mighty matter, it suited as pat as might be with the philosophy of the town that was then in fashion. Now, to undermine and ruin him to all intents and purposes, I took these measures. I flatter, hug, and caress him, like an Achitophel as I was; after the strangest manner imaginable, profess all the respect and friendship in the world for him; tell him that providence had certainly reserved him for working miracles in poetry; and that I had some ancient prophecies by me at home, which declared him to be the very person that was to deliver the immortal writers of former ages out of that Algerine captivity they had so long laboured under—Crites."Well, for daubing and wheedling, I'll let thee loose to any poet in Christendom."Bays."That, if by his mighty feat he could form those Irish atoms of Lucretius into so regular, and well-disciplined an army, could raise such harmony out of a dull unmusical philosopher, how glorious and exalted would his attempts be upon Horace, or what might we not expect from so advantageous, so promising an undertaking. And so, gentlemen, with the help of a little incense and flattery, I so cajoled this Æsop's crow, that he presently dropt his Epicurean cheese out of his mouth, to sing one of his unmusical ill-turned Odes of Horace. I persuaded this Welch courser to leave his ragged unaccessible precipices, where there was no coming after him, to try his strength and feet upon good plain ground, where an English vinegar horse, I knew, would easily distance him."The Reasons of Mr Bayes changing his Religion considered in a Dialogue.Shields, or whoever wrote Creech's Life, in the collection to which Theophilus Cibber gave his name, has not only adopted this tale of scandal, but has added, that the great contempt expressed by Dryden for the translation of Horace, gave the author a shock, from which he never recovered, and, in short, occasioned his falling into low-spirits, and finally committing suicide. The passage, to which this note refers, is sufficient to clear our author from so gross and scandalous a reproach. It shews that after the publication of Creech's Horace he continued, in the most public manner, not only to speak kindly and respectfully of the translator, but to stimulate him to new exertions. It is hence evident, that no breach of friendship took place between them on this occasion; far less could Dryden have driven him to despair by harshness or contempt. The inference, that Dryden urged Creech to attempt Horace, because he foresaw his failure, seems the unfounded deduction of calumny and envy. In the dedication to the Translation of Horace, which is addressed to our author, Creech himself bears the following strong testimony to the liberality of Dryden's sentiments."'Tis you, sir, that have advanced our dramatic to its height, and showed that epic poetry is not confined to Italy and Greece. That you are honoured by the best, and envied by others, proclaims excellency and worth; for, true honour is built only upon perfection; and envy, as it is as sharp sighted, so 'tis as soaring as an eagle; and who ever saw it stoop at a sparrow or a wren? and that candour and goodness have the greatest share in your composition, I dare appeal to every one whom you have any way favoured with your conversation; these so fill your mind, that there is no room left for pride, or any disobliging quality. This appears from the encouragement you are ready to give any tolerable attempts, and reach out a helping hand to all those who endeavour to climb that height where you are already seated. Even this owes its completion to those smiles which you condescended to bestow upon some parts of it, and now ventures to appear asecondtime, where at first it found a favourable entertainment."The reader will observe that this dedication is prefixed to thesecondedition of the Translation of Horace; a circumstance which confutes the assertion that Dryden ridiculed the work, and indeed the whole of a tale, so malignantly invented by slander, and repeated by credulity.

Bays."I have a certain profound stratagem still behind, mySacra AnchoraI call it, which is only to be made use of upon extraordinary occasions, and which I was never forced to employ but once in my time, and is as follows: When any young author has been so fortunate in his first undertaking, as to win himself the applause of all the world, so that 'tis impossible for one to ruin his reputation, without running the hazard of having his throat cut by all sort of company, I am as forward as the best of them all to commend his ingenuity, to extol his parts, and promise him a copy of verses before his book, if he honours the world with a second edition.

Crites."Very good.

Bays."At the same time I privately feel his pulse, and examine the nature, and inclination of the beast. If he chances to be a little saturnine like myself, I set him upon a gay undertaking, where 'tis the devil and all of ill luck if he does not ship-wreck all his former credit. But, if he proves a man of a brisk and jolly temper, I persuade him of all loves to make an experiment of his abilities upon some serious solemn subject; tell him, if ever he expects to be saved, he must out of hand do justice to the Psalms and Canticles, which work he's as incapable to manage, egad, as little David was to fight in Saul's armour. Thus, gentlemen, by engaging the author in a province, where he has not stock enough to carry on the plantation, I never fail one way or other to compass my designs, and, at long-run, to defeat my competitor.

Crites."Why, Mr Bays, this is like enjoining a painter, that has a good fancy at drawing of Saracens' heads, and grotesque figures only, to draw you a Venus or an Adonis, where he must certainly miscarry. Now, I am apt to fancy you trepanned the honest translator of Lucretius with this profound piece of policy: Come, confess the truth, man; did you not?

Bays."You could not have guessed better, Mr Crites, if you had dived into my diaphragma for the secret. It was not in my power, you must know, either to suppress the work, or to discommend it; because, to give the gentleman his due, it was performed beyond all expectation, and, what was a mighty matter, it suited as pat as might be with the philosophy of the town that was then in fashion. Now, to undermine and ruin him to all intents and purposes, I took these measures. I flatter, hug, and caress him, like an Achitophel as I was; after the strangest manner imaginable, profess all the respect and friendship in the world for him; tell him that providence had certainly reserved him for working miracles in poetry; and that I had some ancient prophecies by me at home, which declared him to be the very person that was to deliver the immortal writers of former ages out of that Algerine captivity they had so long laboured under—

Crites."Well, for daubing and wheedling, I'll let thee loose to any poet in Christendom."

Bays."That, if by his mighty feat he could form those Irish atoms of Lucretius into so regular, and well-disciplined an army, could raise such harmony out of a dull unmusical philosopher, how glorious and exalted would his attempts be upon Horace, or what might we not expect from so advantageous, so promising an undertaking. And so, gentlemen, with the help of a little incense and flattery, I so cajoled this Æsop's crow, that he presently dropt his Epicurean cheese out of his mouth, to sing one of his unmusical ill-turned Odes of Horace. I persuaded this Welch courser to leave his ragged unaccessible precipices, where there was no coming after him, to try his strength and feet upon good plain ground, where an English vinegar horse, I knew, would easily distance him."The Reasons of Mr Bayes changing his Religion considered in a Dialogue.

Shields, or whoever wrote Creech's Life, in the collection to which Theophilus Cibber gave his name, has not only adopted this tale of scandal, but has added, that the great contempt expressed by Dryden for the translation of Horace, gave the author a shock, from which he never recovered, and, in short, occasioned his falling into low-spirits, and finally committing suicide. The passage, to which this note refers, is sufficient to clear our author from so gross and scandalous a reproach. It shews that after the publication of Creech's Horace he continued, in the most public manner, not only to speak kindly and respectfully of the translator, but to stimulate him to new exertions. It is hence evident, that no breach of friendship took place between them on this occasion; far less could Dryden have driven him to despair by harshness or contempt. The inference, that Dryden urged Creech to attempt Horace, because he foresaw his failure, seems the unfounded deduction of calumny and envy. In the dedication to the Translation of Horace, which is addressed to our author, Creech himself bears the following strong testimony to the liberality of Dryden's sentiments.

"'Tis you, sir, that have advanced our dramatic to its height, and showed that epic poetry is not confined to Italy and Greece. That you are honoured by the best, and envied by others, proclaims excellency and worth; for, true honour is built only upon perfection; and envy, as it is as sharp sighted, so 'tis as soaring as an eagle; and who ever saw it stoop at a sparrow or a wren? and that candour and goodness have the greatest share in your composition, I dare appeal to every one whom you have any way favoured with your conversation; these so fill your mind, that there is no room left for pride, or any disobliging quality. This appears from the encouragement you are ready to give any tolerable attempts, and reach out a helping hand to all those who endeavour to climb that height where you are already seated. Even this owes its completion to those smiles which you condescended to bestow upon some parts of it, and now ventures to appear asecondtime, where at first it found a favourable entertainment."

The reader will observe that this dedication is prefixed to thesecondedition of the Translation of Horace; a circumstance which confutes the assertion that Dryden ridiculed the work, and indeed the whole of a tale, so malignantly invented by slander, and repeated by credulity.

[39]Marcus Manilius, a poet of the Augustan age, wrote the poem on astronomy, to which Dryden refers.

[40]Sir Henry Shere published his Translation of Polybius in 1692-3, in two volumes, 8vo., to which there was prefixed a character of the author, and of his writings, by Dryden.

[41]Ægiatis was the first wife of Cleomenes. The reader will find an account of the modest custom of Sparta here alluded to, with a curious advantage taken of it by a stranger, in "Les Voyages D'Antenor."

[42]It is surprising that Dryden has not here availed himself of the beautiful and affectionate apostrophe of Cleomenes, when he saw his brother Eucleidas overpowered in the battle of Sellasia: "Thou art lost, dear brother! lost for ever, thou brave example to our Spartan youth, and theme of our matrons' songs!"

[43]This very appropriate simile is taken literally from Plutarch. See the prefixed Life of Cleomenes, p. 239.

[44]This sentiment was used, and absolutely acted upon, by the famous Hewet, in very similar circumstances to those of Cleomenes. "Being taken with a suppression of urine," says Smollet, "he resolved, in imitation of Pomponius Atticus, to take himself off by abstinence; and this resolution he executed like an ancient Roman. He saw company to the last, cracked his jokes, conversed freely, and entertained his guests with music. On the third day of his fast, he found himself entirely freed of his complaint, but refused taking sustenance. He said, the most disagreeable part of the voyage was past; and he should be a cursed fool indeed to put about ship, when he was just entering the harbour. In these sentiments he persisted, without any marks of affectation; and thus finished his course with such ease and serenity, as would have done honour to the firmest Stoic of antiquity."—Note upon the Expedition of Humphrey Clinker.

[45]William Fuller was an informer, who pretended, about this time, to make discovery of a formidable plot, by the Jacobites, against the government. But his luck was not so great as that of his prototype, Titus Oates; for the House of Commons finding him unable to produce the witnesses, to whom he referred for support of his tale, on the 24th February 1691, declared him "a notorious impostor, a cheat, and a false accuser, having scandalized their Majesties, and their government, abused this house, and falsely accused several persons of honour and quality." Fuller was prosecuted by the Attorney General for this offence, and punished by the pillory; notwithstanding which he did not profit by Mrs Bracegirdle's legacy, so as to make "his next plot more clear;" for, in 1702, he was sentenced to the same painful elevation, for publishing an impudent forgery, concerning the birth of the Prince of Wales, son to James II.—See State Trials, vol. VI. p. 442; and the Journals of the House of Commons, for February 1691.

[46]Of Wickham I can learn nothing; but the nature of his imposture is easily to be gathered from the text.

[47]See Introduction to Œdipus, vol.VI.p. 121.

[48]"The second play is Mr Dryden's, called "Love Triumphant, or Nature will prevail." It is a tragi-comedy; but, in my opinion, one of the worst he ever writ, if not the very worst: the comical part descends beneath the style and show of a Bartholomew-Fair droll. It was damned by the universal cry of the town,nemine contradicentebut the conceited poet. He says in his prologue, that this is the last the town must expect from him; he had done himself a kindness, had he taken his leave before."

[49]James, the fourth Earl of Salisbury, was strongly attached to the religion and cause of his former master, James II., a reason, doubtless, for Dryden inscribing to him his last dramatic offspring. There was also a connection betwixt our poet's lady and the Earl, which is alluded to in the dedication. The Earl succeeded to the title in 1683.

[50]It was an ancient custom derived from the days of chivalry, but which long survived them, that, as formerly the future knight had to go through a preliminary course of education, as page and squire to some person of rank and valour; so the pages of the quality, so late as the Revolution, were the sons of gentlemen, and in no way derogated from their birth by accepting that menial situation. This is often alluded to in the old plays. In the "New Inn" for example, when Lovel asks of the Host his son for a page, we have an account of the decay of the institution from its original purposes and respectability.Lovel.Call you that desperate, which by a lineOf institution from our ancestorsHath been derived down to us, and receivedIn a succession, for the noblest wayOf breeding up our youth in letters, arms,Fair mien, discourses, civil exercise,And all the blazon of a gentleman?Where can he learn to vault, to ride, to fence,To move his body gracefuller? to speakHis language purer? or tune his mindAnd manners more to the harmony of nature,Than in these nurseries of nobility?——Host.Aye, that was when the nurseries self was noble,And only virtue made it, not the market,That titles were not vented at the drumOr common outcry: Goodness gave the greatness,And greatness worship: Every house becameAn academy of honour, and those partsWe see departed in the practice nowQuite from the institution.Lovel.Why do you say so,Or think so enviously? do they not stillLearn there the centaur's skill, the art of Thrace,To ride? or Pollux' mystery, to fence?The Pyrrhick gesture, both to dance and springIn armour? to be active for the wars?To study figures, numbers, and proportions,May yield them great in counsel? and the arts,Grave Nestor and the wise Ulysses practised,To make their English sweet upon their tongue,As reverend Chaucer says?Host.Sir, you mistake.—To play Sir Pandarus my copy hath it,And carry messages to Madam Cresside;Instead of backing the brave steed o' mornings,To mount the chamber-maid, and, for a leapO' the vaulting horse, to ply the vaulting house;For exercise of arms, a bale of dice,Or two or three packs of cards, to shew the cheat,And nimbleness of hand; mistake a cloakFrom my lord's back, and pawn it; ease his pocketsOf a superfluous watch; or geld a jewelOf an odd stone or so; twinge two or three buttonsFrom off my lady's gown. These are the arts,Or seven liberal deadly sciencesOf pagery, or rather paganism,As the tides run; to which if he apply him,He may perhaps take a degree at TyburnA year the earlier; come to read a lectureUpon Aquinas at St Thomas a watering's,And so go forth a laureat in hemp circle.New Inn.Act I. Scene 3d.

Lovel.Call you that desperate, which by a lineOf institution from our ancestorsHath been derived down to us, and receivedIn a succession, for the noblest wayOf breeding up our youth in letters, arms,Fair mien, discourses, civil exercise,And all the blazon of a gentleman?Where can he learn to vault, to ride, to fence,To move his body gracefuller? to speakHis language purer? or tune his mindAnd manners more to the harmony of nature,Than in these nurseries of nobility?——Host.Aye, that was when the nurseries self was noble,And only virtue made it, not the market,That titles were not vented at the drumOr common outcry: Goodness gave the greatness,And greatness worship: Every house becameAn academy of honour, and those partsWe see departed in the practice nowQuite from the institution.Lovel.Why do you say so,Or think so enviously? do they not stillLearn there the centaur's skill, the art of Thrace,To ride? or Pollux' mystery, to fence?The Pyrrhick gesture, both to dance and springIn armour? to be active for the wars?To study figures, numbers, and proportions,May yield them great in counsel? and the arts,Grave Nestor and the wise Ulysses practised,To make their English sweet upon their tongue,As reverend Chaucer says?Host.Sir, you mistake.—To play Sir Pandarus my copy hath it,And carry messages to Madam Cresside;Instead of backing the brave steed o' mornings,To mount the chamber-maid, and, for a leapO' the vaulting horse, to ply the vaulting house;For exercise of arms, a bale of dice,Or two or three packs of cards, to shew the cheat,And nimbleness of hand; mistake a cloakFrom my lord's back, and pawn it; ease his pocketsOf a superfluous watch; or geld a jewelOf an odd stone or so; twinge two or three buttonsFrom off my lady's gown. These are the arts,Or seven liberal deadly sciencesOf pagery, or rather paganism,As the tides run; to which if he apply him,He may perhaps take a degree at TyburnA year the earlier; come to read a lectureUpon Aquinas at St Thomas a watering's,And so go forth a laureat in hemp circle.New Inn.Act I. Scene 3d.

Lovel.Call you that desperate, which by a line

Of institution from our ancestors

Hath been derived down to us, and received

In a succession, for the noblest way

Of breeding up our youth in letters, arms,

Fair mien, discourses, civil exercise,

And all the blazon of a gentleman?

Where can he learn to vault, to ride, to fence,

To move his body gracefuller? to speak

His language purer? or tune his mind

And manners more to the harmony of nature,

Than in these nurseries of nobility?——

Host.Aye, that was when the nurseries self was noble,And only virtue made it, not the market,That titles were not vented at the drumOr common outcry: Goodness gave the greatness,And greatness worship: Every house becameAn academy of honour, and those partsWe see departed in the practice nowQuite from the institution.

Host.Aye, that was when the nurseries self was noble,

And only virtue made it, not the market,

That titles were not vented at the drum

Or common outcry: Goodness gave the greatness,

And greatness worship: Every house became

An academy of honour, and those parts

We see departed in the practice now

Quite from the institution.

Lovel.Why do you say so,Or think so enviously? do they not stillLearn there the centaur's skill, the art of Thrace,To ride? or Pollux' mystery, to fence?The Pyrrhick gesture, both to dance and springIn armour? to be active for the wars?To study figures, numbers, and proportions,May yield them great in counsel? and the arts,Grave Nestor and the wise Ulysses practised,To make their English sweet upon their tongue,As reverend Chaucer says?

Lovel.Why do you say so,

Or think so enviously? do they not still

Learn there the centaur's skill, the art of Thrace,

To ride? or Pollux' mystery, to fence?

The Pyrrhick gesture, both to dance and spring

In armour? to be active for the wars?

To study figures, numbers, and proportions,

May yield them great in counsel? and the arts,

Grave Nestor and the wise Ulysses practised,

To make their English sweet upon their tongue,

As reverend Chaucer says?

Host.Sir, you mistake.—To play Sir Pandarus my copy hath it,And carry messages to Madam Cresside;Instead of backing the brave steed o' mornings,To mount the chamber-maid, and, for a leapO' the vaulting horse, to ply the vaulting house;For exercise of arms, a bale of dice,Or two or three packs of cards, to shew the cheat,And nimbleness of hand; mistake a cloakFrom my lord's back, and pawn it; ease his pocketsOf a superfluous watch; or geld a jewelOf an odd stone or so; twinge two or three buttonsFrom off my lady's gown. These are the arts,Or seven liberal deadly sciencesOf pagery, or rather paganism,As the tides run; to which if he apply him,He may perhaps take a degree at TyburnA year the earlier; come to read a lectureUpon Aquinas at St Thomas a watering's,And so go forth a laureat in hemp circle.New Inn.Act I. Scene 3d.

Host.Sir, you mistake.—

To play Sir Pandarus my copy hath it,

And carry messages to Madam Cresside;

Instead of backing the brave steed o' mornings,

To mount the chamber-maid, and, for a leap

O' the vaulting horse, to ply the vaulting house;

For exercise of arms, a bale of dice,

Or two or three packs of cards, to shew the cheat,

And nimbleness of hand; mistake a cloak

From my lord's back, and pawn it; ease his pockets

Of a superfluous watch; or geld a jewel

Of an odd stone or so; twinge two or three buttons

From off my lady's gown. These are the arts,

Or seven liberal deadly sciences

Of pagery, or rather paganism,

As the tides run; to which if he apply him,

He may perhaps take a degree at Tyburn

A year the earlier; come to read a lecture

Upon Aquinas at St Thomas a watering's,

And so go forth a laureat in hemp circle.

New Inn.Act I. Scene 3d.

[51]The second earl of Salisbury married an aunt of Lady Elizabeth Dryden; his son, lord Cranbourne, was grandfather of James, the fourth earl; and therein consisted the relationship between Dryden's sons, and the family of his patron, to which it is somewhat difficult, in modern days, to give an exact name.

[52]This attitude and employment, however inconsistent with our modern ideas of good breeding, seems to have been an air frequently assumed by the beaus of the seventeenth century. In a play by Killigrew, called the "Parson's Wedding," we have this direction: "Enter Jack Constant, Will Sad, Jolly, and a footman: they comb their heads, and talk." Our author alludes to the same fashion, in the Prologue to the "Conquest of Grenada," Part II.Straight every man who thinks himself a wit,Perks up, and, managing his comb with grace,With his white wig sets off his nut-brown face.The same custom is alluded to by Congreve, and is supposed to have remained fashionable during Queen Anne's time.

Straight every man who thinks himself a wit,Perks up, and, managing his comb with grace,With his white wig sets off his nut-brown face.

Straight every man who thinks himself a wit,

Perks up, and, managing his comb with grace,

With his white wig sets off his nut-brown face.

The same custom is alluded to by Congreve, and is supposed to have remained fashionable during Queen Anne's time.

[53]Mr Malone conjectures, with great probability, that this virtue, which would not bear the light, must have been lord Salisbury's secret attachment to the exiled monarch.

[54]This seems to be an allusion to the pretended dukedom of Marine, in Beaumont and Fletcher's "Noble Gentleman," which had been revived in 1688, by Tom D'urfey, under the title of the "Three Dukes of Dunstable."Gent.Hark you, sir, the king doth know you are a duke.Mar.No! does he?Gent.Yes, and is content you shall be; but with this caution,That none know't but yourself; for, if you do,He'll take't away by act of parliament.Mar. There is my hand, and, whilst I live or breathe,No living wight shall know I am a duke,

Gent.Hark you, sir, the king doth know you are a duke.Mar.No! does he?Gent.Yes, and is content you shall be; but with this caution,That none know't but yourself; for, if you do,He'll take't away by act of parliament.Mar. There is my hand, and, whilst I live or breathe,No living wight shall know I am a duke,

Gent.Hark you, sir, the king doth know you are a duke.

Mar.No! does he?

Gent.Yes, and is content you shall be; but with this caution,That none know't but yourself; for, if you do,He'll take't away by act of parliament.

Gent.Yes, and is content you shall be; but with this caution,

That none know't but yourself; for, if you do,

He'll take't away by act of parliament.

Mar. There is my hand, and, whilst I live or breathe,No living wight shall know I am a duke,

Mar. There is my hand, and, whilst I live or breathe,

No living wight shall know I am a duke,

[55]I do not know if any individual is here levelled at. Shakespeare has had his critics in all ages, who, like the inexpert tinker, have generally made two holes in patching one. In the end of the seventeenth century, his plays were usually acted in a sophisticated state, as altered by Tate, D'Avenant, Crowne, Ravenscroft, and others. The last, in the preface to his alteration of "Titus Andronicus," has the impudence to say, "That if the reader will compare the old play with his copy, he will find that none in all that author's works ever received greater alterations or additions, the language not only refined, but many scenes entirely new, besides most of the principal characters heightened, and the plot much increased."

[56]Alluding to the vulgar proverb, "One who is born under a three-penny planet will never be worth a groat."

[57]There would probably occur to the audience of the period, some recollection of the manner in which King James had been treated by Sunderland.

[58]Meaning, that the courtiers, although their eyes be as fatal as those of basilisks, are not subject to the fate of that fabulous serpent, which died if a man beheld it first.

[59]Our author uses the same old word, for a scramble, in the prologue to "The Widow Ranter."Bauble and cap no sooner are thrown down,But there's amussof more than half the town.It occurs frequently in old authors, and particularly in the well known passage in "Anthony and Cleopatra."——Of late, when I cried ho!Like boys unto amuss, kings would start forth,And cry, your will?

[59]Our author uses the same old word, for a scramble, in the prologue to "The Widow Ranter."

Bauble and cap no sooner are thrown down,But there's amussof more than half the town.

Bauble and cap no sooner are thrown down,

But there's amussof more than half the town.

It occurs frequently in old authors, and particularly in the well known passage in "Anthony and Cleopatra."

——Of late, when I cried ho!Like boys unto amuss, kings would start forth,And cry, your will?

——Of late, when I cried ho!

Like boys unto amuss, kings would start forth,

And cry, your will?

[60]This old English word, for a Christmas masquerading frolic, is still used in some parts of England.

[61]See the lines in the prologue,He dies,—at least to us and to the stage,And what he has, he leaves this noble age.

[61]See the lines in the prologue,

He dies,—at least to us and to the stage,And what he has, he leaves this noble age.

He dies,—at least to us and to the stage,

And what he has, he leaves this noble age.

[62]Mr Malone supposes the play to have been acted on the 25th March, 1700; Dryden died on the 1st of May following. The play was advertised for publication in the London Gazette of 17th June, 1700. The following is the full title:—"The Pilgrim, a Comedy, as it is acted at the Theatre-royal in Drury-lane, written originally by Mr Fletcher, and now very much altered, with several additions; likewise, a Prologue, Epilogue, Dialogue, and Masque, written by the late great poet, Mr Dryden, just before his death, being the last of his works. Printed for Benjamin Tooke, near the Middle Temple Gate, in Fleet-street. 1700."In the published copy our author is mentioned as dead:—"Governor. I hope before you go, sir, you'll share with us an entertainment, the late great poet of our age prepared to celebrate this day." But this, as Mr Malone observes, was probably an addition, after Dryden's death had taken place. Gildon, in his "Comparison between the Stages," seems to say that the play was performed for the benefit of Dryden'sson; probably, because in his father's extreme illness, or upon his death, his son would naturally draw the profits. On the whole, it seems probable, that Dryden survived the performance of the play; as it is presumable that "The Secular Masque," being intended to solemnise the supposed termination of the century, was brought out as soon as possible in the new year.

"The Pilgrim, a Comedy, as it is acted at the Theatre-royal in Drury-lane, written originally by Mr Fletcher, and now very much altered, with several additions; likewise, a Prologue, Epilogue, Dialogue, and Masque, written by the late great poet, Mr Dryden, just before his death, being the last of his works. Printed for Benjamin Tooke, near the Middle Temple Gate, in Fleet-street. 1700."

In the published copy our author is mentioned as dead:—"Governor. I hope before you go, sir, you'll share with us an entertainment, the late great poet of our age prepared to celebrate this day." But this, as Mr Malone observes, was probably an addition, after Dryden's death had taken place. Gildon, in his "Comparison between the Stages," seems to say that the play was performed for the benefit of Dryden'sson; probably, because in his father's extreme illness, or upon his death, his son would naturally draw the profits. On the whole, it seems probable, that Dryden survived the performance of the play; as it is presumable that "The Secular Masque," being intended to solemnise the supposed termination of the century, was brought out as soon as possible in the new year.

[63]The savage amusement of bear-baiting was much in fashion in England during the seventeenth century. Tom Dove, although equipped with a name not very expressive of his properties, seems to have been a bear of great celebrity. Dryden honours him by another notice in the second Prologue on the Union of the Companies:They roar so loud, you'd think, behind the stairs,Tom Dove, and all the brotherhood of bears.

They roar so loud, you'd think, behind the stairs,Tom Dove, and all the brotherhood of bears.

They roar so loud, you'd think, behind the stairs,

Tom Dove, and all the brotherhood of bears.

[64]Quack Maurus is the noted Sir Richard Blackmore, who, if he was not witty himself, was the cause of more wit in others than most who have favoured the world with their writings. In his Satire against Wit, he had proposed a sort of mint, in which the works of the witty should be purified and re-coined:'Tis true, that, when the coarse and worthless drossIs purged away, there will be mighty loss:Even Congreve, Southerne, Manly, Wycherly,When thus refined, will grievous sufferers be:Into the melting-pot when Dryden comes,What horrid stench will rise, what noisome!How will he shrink when all his lewd allayAnd wicked mixture shall be purged away?In the first edition of the Poem, this lumbering attack upon Dryden concluded with a compliment:But what remains will be so pure, 'twill bearThe examination of the most severe.But Blackmore, when our author had retaliated upon him in the Preface to the Fables, "finding," says Dr Johnson, "the censure resented, and the civility disregarded, ungenerously omitted the softer part. Such variations discover a writer who consults his passions more than his virtue, and it may be reasonably supposed that Dryden attributes his enmity to its true cause,"—his attack upon Blackmore's fanatic patrons in the city. He had also assailed our author in the Preface to his "Prince Arthur;" which, after a general and bitter complaint of the profligacy of the stage, contains these personal remarks levelled against Dryden. "And there are, among these writers, some who think they might have arisen to the highest dignities in other professions, had they employed their wit in those ways. 'Tis a mighty dishonour and reproach to any man, that is capable of being useful to the world in any liberal or virtuous profession, to lavish out his life and wit in propagating vice and corruption of manners, and in battering from the stage the strongest entrenchments and best works of religion and virtue. Whoever makes this his choice, when the other was in his power, may he go off the stage unpitied, complaining ofneglectandpoverty, the just punishment of his irreligion and folly." This reproach, which touched some very tender points, was not to be tolerated or forgot by Dryden.

'Tis true, that, when the coarse and worthless drossIs purged away, there will be mighty loss:Even Congreve, Southerne, Manly, Wycherly,When thus refined, will grievous sufferers be:Into the melting-pot when Dryden comes,What horrid stench will rise, what noisome!How will he shrink when all his lewd allayAnd wicked mixture shall be purged away?

'Tis true, that, when the coarse and worthless dross

Is purged away, there will be mighty loss:

Even Congreve, Southerne, Manly, Wycherly,

When thus refined, will grievous sufferers be:

Into the melting-pot when Dryden comes,

What horrid stench will rise, what noisome!

How will he shrink when all his lewd allay

And wicked mixture shall be purged away?

In the first edition of the Poem, this lumbering attack upon Dryden concluded with a compliment:

But what remains will be so pure, 'twill bearThe examination of the most severe.

But what remains will be so pure, 'twill bear

The examination of the most severe.

But Blackmore, when our author had retaliated upon him in the Preface to the Fables, "finding," says Dr Johnson, "the censure resented, and the civility disregarded, ungenerously omitted the softer part. Such variations discover a writer who consults his passions more than his virtue, and it may be reasonably supposed that Dryden attributes his enmity to its true cause,"—his attack upon Blackmore's fanatic patrons in the city. He had also assailed our author in the Preface to his "Prince Arthur;" which, after a general and bitter complaint of the profligacy of the stage, contains these personal remarks levelled against Dryden. "And there are, among these writers, some who think they might have arisen to the highest dignities in other professions, had they employed their wit in those ways. 'Tis a mighty dishonour and reproach to any man, that is capable of being useful to the world in any liberal or virtuous profession, to lavish out his life and wit in propagating vice and corruption of manners, and in battering from the stage the strongest entrenchments and best works of religion and virtue. Whoever makes this his choice, when the other was in his power, may he go off the stage unpitied, complaining ofneglectandpoverty, the just punishment of his irreligion and folly." This reproach, which touched some very tender points, was not to be tolerated or forgot by Dryden.

[65]Blackmore was a commoner of Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he remained thirteen years, and took the degree of Master of Arts on 3d June, 1676; but he did not take his medical degrees there, and appears not to have studied physic regularly, as he was for some time a school-master; when, according to Col. Coddrington,By nature formed, by want a pedant made,Blackmore at first set up the whipping trade;Next quack commenced, when fierce with pride he swore,That toothache, gout, and corns, should be no more:In vain his drugs, as well as birch he plied,His boys grow blockheads, and his patients died.Sir Richard Blackmore had his medical diploma from Padua, in Italy; a learned and eminent University, which, like some in my own country, is supposed not to be over scrupulous in conferring honours of this nature.

By nature formed, by want a pedant made,Blackmore at first set up the whipping trade;Next quack commenced, when fierce with pride he swore,That toothache, gout, and corns, should be no more:In vain his drugs, as well as birch he plied,His boys grow blockheads, and his patients died.

By nature formed, by want a pedant made,

Blackmore at first set up the whipping trade;

Next quack commenced, when fierce with pride he swore,

That toothache, gout, and corns, should be no more:

In vain his drugs, as well as birch he plied,

His boys grow blockheads, and his patients died.

Sir Richard Blackmore had his medical diploma from Padua, in Italy; a learned and eminent University, which, like some in my own country, is supposed not to be over scrupulous in conferring honours of this nature.

[66]"Prince Arthur," a heroic poem, in ten books, published in 1695, was written, the author assures us in his Preface, "by such catches and starts, and in such occasional uncertain hours, as his profession afforded, and for the greatest part in coffee-houses, or in passing up and down the streets."

[67]Who was the first of these well-judging monarchs, is hard to say. Blackmore may have had some sort of royal licence for the practice of physic during the reign of Charles or James; but he was not made physician to the Household till the reign of King William, who conferred on him, at the same time, the honour of knighthood; for which that monarch's taste is thus commemorated by Pope:The hero William, and the martyr Charles,One knighted Blackmore, and one pensioned Quarles.Blackmore's dulness, or solidity of temper, rendered him absolutely impenetrable to the shafts of ridicule, which were aimed at him from all quarters; and, consoling himself with the excellence of his intentions, he wrote on till the catalogue of his worksgave room for Swift's burlesque inscription, to be placed under his picture:See, who ne'er was, or will be half read,Who first sung Arthur, then sung Alfred(a).Praised great Eliza(b) in God's anger,Till all true Englishmen cried, hang her:Made William's virtues wipe the bare a—,And hanged up Marlborough in arras;(c)Then hissed from earth, grown heavenly quite,Made every reader curse the light(d).Mauled human wit in one thick satire(e);Next, in three books, spoiled human nature(f);Ended Creation(g) at a jerk,And of Redemption(h) made damned work:Then took his muse at once, and dipped herFull in the middle of the scripture.What wonders there the man grown old did!Sternhold himself he out-sternholded;Made David(i) seem so mad and freakish,All thought him just what thought king Achish.No mortal read his Solomon(k),But judged R'oboam his own son.Moses(l) he served, as Moses Pharoah,And Deborah as she Sisera;Made Jeremy(m) full sore to cry,And Job(n) himself curse God and die.What punishment shall all this follow?Shall Arthur use him like king Tollo?Shall David as Uriah slay him?Or dexterous Deborah Siserhah him?Or shall Eliza lay a plot,To treat him like her sister Scot?Shall William dubb his better end(o)?Of Marlborough serve him like a friend?No, none of these—heaven spare his life,But send him, honest Job—thy wife.(a)Two Heroic Poems, in folio; twenty books.(b)A Heroic Poem, in twelve books.(c)Instructions to a Tapestry Weaver.(d)Hymn to the Light.(e)Satire against Wit.(f)Of the Mature of Man.(g)Creation, in seven books.(h)Redemption, in six books.(i)Translation of all the Psalms.(k)Canticles and Ecclesiastes.(l)Canticles, of Moses, Deborah, &c.(m)The Lamentations.(n)The whole Book of Job, a Poem, in folio.(o)Kick him on the breech, not knight him on the shoulder.

The hero William, and the martyr Charles,One knighted Blackmore, and one pensioned Quarles.

The hero William, and the martyr Charles,

One knighted Blackmore, and one pensioned Quarles.

Blackmore's dulness, or solidity of temper, rendered him absolutely impenetrable to the shafts of ridicule, which were aimed at him from all quarters; and, consoling himself with the excellence of his intentions, he wrote on till the catalogue of his worksgave room for Swift's burlesque inscription, to be placed under his picture:

See, who ne'er was, or will be half read,Who first sung Arthur, then sung Alfred(a).Praised great Eliza(b) in God's anger,Till all true Englishmen cried, hang her:Made William's virtues wipe the bare a—,And hanged up Marlborough in arras;(c)Then hissed from earth, grown heavenly quite,Made every reader curse the light(d).Mauled human wit in one thick satire(e);Next, in three books, spoiled human nature(f);Ended Creation(g) at a jerk,And of Redemption(h) made damned work:Then took his muse at once, and dipped herFull in the middle of the scripture.What wonders there the man grown old did!Sternhold himself he out-sternholded;Made David(i) seem so mad and freakish,All thought him just what thought king Achish.No mortal read his Solomon(k),But judged R'oboam his own son.Moses(l) he served, as Moses Pharoah,And Deborah as she Sisera;Made Jeremy(m) full sore to cry,And Job(n) himself curse God and die.What punishment shall all this follow?Shall Arthur use him like king Tollo?Shall David as Uriah slay him?Or dexterous Deborah Siserhah him?Or shall Eliza lay a plot,To treat him like her sister Scot?Shall William dubb his better end(o)?Of Marlborough serve him like a friend?No, none of these—heaven spare his life,But send him, honest Job—thy wife.

See, who ne'er was, or will be half read,

Who first sung Arthur, then sung Alfred(a).

Praised great Eliza(b) in God's anger,

Till all true Englishmen cried, hang her:

Made William's virtues wipe the bare a—,

And hanged up Marlborough in arras;(c)

Then hissed from earth, grown heavenly quite,

Made every reader curse the light(d).

Mauled human wit in one thick satire(e);

Next, in three books, spoiled human nature(f);

Ended Creation(g) at a jerk,

And of Redemption(h) made damned work:

Then took his muse at once, and dipped her

Full in the middle of the scripture.

What wonders there the man grown old did!

Sternhold himself he out-sternholded;

Made David(i) seem so mad and freakish,

All thought him just what thought king Achish.

No mortal read his Solomon(k),

But judged R'oboam his own son.

Moses(l) he served, as Moses Pharoah,

And Deborah as she Sisera;

Made Jeremy(m) full sore to cry,

And Job(n) himself curse God and die.

What punishment shall all this follow?

Shall Arthur use him like king Tollo?

Shall David as Uriah slay him?

Or dexterous Deborah Siserhah him?

Or shall Eliza lay a plot,

To treat him like her sister Scot?

Shall William dubb his better end(o)?

Of Marlborough serve him like a friend?

No, none of these—heaven spare his life,

But send him, honest Job—thy wife.

[68]The meteoric appearances, called by sailors in the Mediterranean the Lights of St Elmo, and by the ancients, Castor and Pollux. Their appearance is supposed to presage the safety of the vessel, and the termination of the storm.

[69]"Nay, I dare boldly say, one man might with more safety have killed another, than a rascal deer: but if a stag had been known to have miscarried, and the author fled, a proclamation, with a description of the party, had been presently penned by the Attorney-general, and the penalty of his Majesty's high displeasure (by which was understood the Star-Chamber) threatened against all that did abet, comfort, or relieve him. Thus satirical, or, if you please, tragical, was this sylvan prince against deer-killers, and indulgent to men-slayers. But, lest this expression should be thought too poetical for an historian, I shall leave him dressed to posterity in the colours I saw him in the next progress after his inauguration; which was as green as the grass he trod on, with a feather in his cap, and a horn, instead of a sword, by his side: how suitable to his age, calling, or complexion, I leave others to judge from his pictures; he owning a countenance not in the least semblable to any my eyes ever met with, besides an host, dwelling in Amt-hill, formerly a shepherd, and so metaphorically of the same profession."—Osborne's Traditional Memorials, § 17.

[70]"I have sent the kyng," says Thomas Randolph, in a letter to the infamous Archibald Douglas, "two hunting men, very good and skillful, with one footman, that can whoop, hollow, and cry, that all the trees in Falkland will quake for fear. Pray the king's majesty to be merciful to the poor bucks."Murdin's State Papers, vol. ii. p. 558.

[71]The archbishop of York, in a remarkable letter to Lord Cranbourne, expresses his wish for "more moderation in the lawful exercise of hunting, both that poor men's corn may be less spoiled, and other his Majesty's subjects more spared." To this Lord Cranbourne answers, courtier-like, that, as it was a praise in the good Emperor Trajan, to be disposed to such manlike and active recreations, so it ought to be a joy to the English to behold a prince, of so able a constitution, promising long life and a numerous progeny.Lodge's Illustrations of English History, vol. iii. pp. 251, 263

[72]"There is no news we hear, but a reasonable pretty jest is spoken that happened at Royston.—There was one of the king's special hounds, called Jowler, missing one day; the king was much displeased that he was wanted, notwithstanding went a hunting. The next day, when they were in the field, Jowler came in among the rest of the hounds; the king was told of him, and was very glad, and, looking on him, spied a paper about his neck, and in the paper was written—'Good Mr Jowler,—We pray you speak to the king, for he hears you every day, and so doth he not us; that it will please his Majesty to go back to London, for else the country will be undone. All our provision is spent already, and we are not able to entertain him longer.' It was taken for a jest, and so passed over, for his Majesty intends to lye there yet a fortnight."Lodge's Illustrations, vol. iii. p. 245. There is also in theNugæ Antiquæ, a most singular letter of the king's, praying God to thank the master of the horse, for providing him such fair well shaped horse, and such a fine pretty kennel of young hounds. Vol. i. p. 394.

[73]See theNugæ Antiquæ. In vol. i. p. 349. of Mr Park's excellent edition, Sir John Harrington gives the following extraordinary account of one of King James's revels with Christian IV. of Denmark.—"One day a great feast was held, and, after dinner, the representation of Solomon his Temple, and the coming of the queen of Sheba, was made (or, as I may better say) was meant to have been made, before their majesties, by device of the earl of Salisbury and others. But, alas! as all earthly things do fail to poor mortals in enjoyment, so did prove our presentment hereof. The ladie, who did play the queen's part, did carry most precious gifts to both their majesties; but, forgetting the steps arising to the canopy, overset her caskets into his Danish majesties lap, and fell at his feet, though I rather think it was in his face. Much was the hurry and confusion; clothes and napkins were at hand to make all clean. His majesty then got up, and would dance with the queen of Sheba, but he fell down and humbled himself before her, and was carried to an inner chamber, and laid upon a bed of state, which was not a little defiled with the presents of the queen, which had been bestowed on his garments; such as wine, cream, jelly, beverage, cakes, spices, and other good matters. The entertainment and showwent forward, and most of the presenterswent backward, or fell down: wine did so occupy their upper chambers. Now did appear, in rich dresses, Hope, Faith, and Charity: Hope did essay to speak, but wine rendered her endeavours so feeble, that she withdrew, andhopedthe king would excuse her brevity: Faith was then left all alone, for I am certain she was not joined with good works, and left the court in a staggering condition: Charity came to the king's feet, and seemed to cover the multitude of sins her sisters had committed; in some sort she made obeisance, and brought gifts, but said she would return home again, as there was no gift which heaven had not already given his majesty. She then returned to Hope and Faith, who were both sick, and spewing in the lower hall. Next came Victory, in bright armour, and presented a rich sword to the king, who did not accept it, but put it by with his hand, and by a strange medley of versification, did endeavour to make suit to the king. But Victory did not triumph long; for, after much lamentable utterance, she was led away like a silly captive, and laid to sleep on the outer steps of the anti-chamber. Now did Peace make entry, and strove to get foremost to the king; but I grieve to tell how great wrath she did discover unto those of her attendants, and, much contrary to her semblance, most rudely made war with her olive-branch, and laid on the pates of those who did oppose her coming. I have much marvelled at these strange pageantries; and they do bring to my remembrance what past of this sort in our queen's days, of which I was sometime a humble presenter and assistant, but I ne'er did see such lack of good order, discretion, and sobriety, as I have now done. I have passed much time in seeing the royal sports of hunting and hawking, where the manners were such as made me devise the beasts were pursuing the sober creation, and not man, in quest of exercise and food. I will now, in good sooth, declare to you, who will not blab, that the gun-powder fright is got out of all our heads, and we are going on hereabouts as if the devil was contriving every man should blow up himself by wild riot, excess, and devastation of time and temperance."—Ibid. Letter from Sir John Harrington to Mr Secretary Barlow, 1606.

[74]The first edition, and some others, haveGood; but I preferGod, as the more poetical reading.

[75]There seems here to be a secret allusion to the exile of the beautiful queen of James II., so much admired by the Tory poets of the time.

[76]The facetious Joe Haines, who is mentioned at the end of the epilogue, assigned another motive for this assault: "The clergy and the actors are both moral menders by profession," said the wag; "and you know two of a trade can never agree."—Cibber's Apology.

[77]The rigour of the republicans against female frailty, was of a piece with their general hypocrisy. It was, however, carried much farther in Scotland, where open adultery was declared by statute a capital crime. That act is still unrepealed, and may remind the reader of a verse I have somewhere read:Beware, ye knights on British ground,Beware, ye dames so free;Full many a neck so straight and roundOn gallows stretched might be.

Beware, ye knights on British ground,Beware, ye dames so free;Full many a neck so straight and roundOn gallows stretched might be.

Beware, ye knights on British ground,

Beware, ye dames so free;

Full many a neck so straight and round

On gallows stretched might be.

[78]The infamous Oates fared, at the Revolution, not so well as he wished, though much better than he deserved. James II. by the extreme cruelty of the punishment, which Jefferies doomed, and he suffered to be inflicted, contrived to excite the public commiseration even in favour of this miscreant, whose forsworn tongue had occasioned more murders than the dagger of the most sanguinary bravo. After the Revolution he obtained a pardon, or rather remission of his inhuman sentence, to be imprisoned during life, and pilloried five times every year. He was also admitted to the comforts of a pension of L.400 a-year. But, although he bestirred himself to obtain a reversal of his judgement for perjury, and wrote an abusive pamphlet, entitled, a "Picture of the late King James," and dedicated to King William, that cool-headed monarch, and his sagacious council, would never restore him to a capacity of bearing evidence. The Earl of Danby, now Duke of Leeds, who had experienced the danger of his swearing capacity, would consent to the reversal in no other sense, than that, having been condemned to be scourged from Newgate to Tyburn, he should now be scourged back from Tyburn to Newgate. Dryden, therefore, without fear of offence, might venture a stroke of satire at this once formidable person.

[79]The allusion seems to be partly to Bryan Haines, the Tory evidence against Shaftesbury and College, a fellow almost as infamous as Oates; but chiefly, by way of equivoque, to the wicked wag Jee Haines, the comedian, who, amongst other pranks, chose, during the reign of James II., to become Roman Catholic. Whether he took this step from any serious prospect of advantage, or to throw ridicule on the new converts, is somewhat dubious; at least his apostacy was not founded upon conviction for, after the Revolution, he abjured the errors of Popery, spoke a penitentiary prologue, and reconciled himself to the church and theatre of England.

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