Chapter 22

Cliveden's proud alcoveThe bow'r of wanton Shrewsbury and love.

—Moral Essays, iii, 307-8.

p.76Sir Samuel Morland, or Sir Robert Gorden. Sir Samuel Morland, the celebrated inventor and projector, was born in 1625. Having served the Commonwealth, he turned royalist, and on Cromwell's death joined the King at Breda. He was rewarded at the Restoration with a baronetcy, a pension, and the appointment of Master of Mechanics to the King. He devoted himself to practical science, and his house was long the resort of the curious to view his models, inventions, &c. In a MS. (Harleian) treatise he shows an accurate knowledge of steam power and explains how it can be employed to work cylinders in raising water, a subject to which he had paid particular attention, having brought water from a considerable distance to the top of Windsor Castle. He died blind and in penury, 30 December, 1695.

Sir Robert Gordon, Bart. was born 7 March, 1647. He became famous for his scientific pursuits, and in the neighbourhood of Gordonstown (Elginshire), his birthplace, he was long known as 'Sir Robert theWarlock'. A MS. account of the family says: he was 'particularly skilled in mechanics and chemistry.... He contrived a curious machine or pump for raising water, wchwas tried in the Fleet and highly approved of, and found far to exceed anything of that kind then known, both for the facility of working and the quantity of water it discharged.' Gordon sat in the Scotch parliament, and seems to have been a favourite with James II, who was interested in his experiments. He died 1704.

p.79l'heure du Bergere. cf. 'the hour of the Berjere'.The Feign'd Curtezans, iii, 1 (Vol. II, p. 346), and note on that passage (p. 441).

p.115To the Right Honourable, James. James Cecil, 4th Earl of Salisbury, Viscount Cranbourn, was the eldest son of James, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, and Margaret, daughter of John Manners, Earl of Rutland. He married Frances, one of the three daughters and coheiresses of Simon Bennet of Beechampton, Bucks, when she was only thirteen years old. A firm Tory, he was in 1688-9 committed to the Tower as a recusant, but the prosecution was waived. His name was forged by Robert Young to a document purporting to be that of an Association to seize the Prince of Orange, and declare for King James. On this account he was a second time committed to the Tower, 7 May, 1692, but as nothing could be proved his bail was soon formally discharged in the Court of King's Bench. He died 25 October, 1693, leaving an only son, three years old, who succeeded him. He was buried at Hatfield, 29 October.

p.117Ogs and Doegs reign'd. Shadwell is scarified as Og by Dryden,Absalom and Achitophel, II(1682), Elkanah Settle as Doeg.

p.117Baxter's zeal. This ardent Presbyterian divine was considerably harassed during the reign of Charles II. He had bidden farewell to the Church of England in the great Blackfriars church, 16 May, 1662, three days before the Act of Uniformity was passed, but he still held forth with unabated zest and vigor in meeting-houses and conventicles whenever opportunity offered. He was imprisoned 28 February, 1684-5 on a charge of libelling the Church in hisParaphrase of the New Testament(1685). His sermons, devotional and other writings amount to nearly two hundred.

p.119J. Cooper, Buckden. John Cooper (who doubtless wrote the following lines initialled J. C.), was a contributor to Dryden'sMiscellany, at the end of which (Vol. I) is advertised: 'Poems upon Several Occasions; written by Mrs.Behn; are now in the Press, and will be published this Term.' Cooper was also the translator of the[OE]none to Parisepistle in theHeroides'By Several Hands' (1680).

Buckden is a village and parish some sixty-one miles from London, and four miles south-west from Huntingdon.

p.120Orinda. videnotesupra(on p. 7), 'twoOrinda's'.

p.120No dying Swan. cf. Ovid,Heroides, vii, 1-2:—

Sic, ubi fata vocant, udis abiectus in herbis,Ad vada Mæandri concinit albus olor.

andMetamorphoseonv. 386-7:—

non illo plura CaystrosCarmina cycnorum labentibus audit in undis.

p.121J. Adams. John Adams was a member, and afterwards a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. He proceeded B.A. 1682, M.A. 1686, and is mentioned as a Professor of Theology, whence we infer that he took Orders. In 1712 he was 'Collegii Regalis Praepositus'. He prefixed a copy of complimentary verses (1 January, 1682), to Creech'sLucretius, and was also a contributor to Dryden'sMiscellany.

John Adams, the celebrated topographer, who in 1680 laboriously drew up theIndex Villaris, a gazetteer dedicated to Charles II, was a barrister of the Inner Temple, and must be carefully distinguished from the Cambridge litterateur.

p.123T. C.i.e. Thomas Creech, who was born at Blandford, Dorset, 1659. In Lent Term, 1675, he was admitted as a commoner at Wadham College, Oxford. Having studied hard he graduated M.A. 13 June, 1683 (B.D. 18 March, 1696), and was elected a Fellow of All Souls, 1 November, 1683. For two years (1694-6) he was headmaster of Sherborne, and then returned to Oxford. Melancholia, however, grew upon him, and after accepting the college living of Welwyn (where he never resided) he committed suicide, his body being discovered (June, 1700), in a garret in his lodging at the house of an apothecary named Ives. Creech's translation ofLucretiuswas printed at Oxford, 1682. It is of value, and Munro in his edition of the poet speaks of his predecessor as 'a man of sound sense and good taste', no mean praise from so great a scholar.

p.125her Pen Can be instructed. An obvious allusion to the rumour that Mrs. Behn was assisted in her work by Hoyle.

p.127the learned Daphnis. Thomas Creech.

p.128barbarous Getans. Ovid in exile cries:—

Nec te mirari, si sint vitiosa, decebitCarmina, quae faciam paene poeta Getes.

—Ep. ex Ponto, IV, xiii, 17-8.

p.129Achitophels. Achitophel==the Earl of Shaftesbury.

p.129murmuring Shimei's. Shimei, Slingsby Bethel, by poll chosen one of the sheriffs for the City of London on Midsummer day, 1680, was a factious fanatic, who had formerly been one of the committee of safety. Burnet says that his miserable way of living and extreme miserliness rendered him disagreeable to everybody, even his own party. Dryden very justly lashes him,Absalom and Achitophel, I, 585-629.

p.133In an Azure Mantle. This phrase is very nearly equivalent to Ovid's 'purpureus Amor' (Amorum, ii,I, 38); and Hieronymus Angerianus in hisErotopaignion, repeats the same expressive adjective: 'purpureus lumina pandit Amor.'

p.137H. Watson. Henry Watson was a member of Christ's College, Cambridge.

p.138Groves appear'd. Martinus Scriblerus (Pope) ΠΕΡΙ ΒΑΘΟΥΣ·or, The Art of Sinking in Poetry: written in the YearMDCCXXVII, chap. xii,has: '1. The Florid Style than which none is more proper to the Bathos, as flowers, which are the lowest of vegetables, are most gaudy, and do many times grow in great plenty at the bottom of ponds and ditches.

A fine writer in this kind presents you with the following posie:

The groves appear all drest with wreaths of flowers,And from their leaves drop aromatic showers,Whose fragrant heads in mystic twines aboveExchange their sweets, and mix'd with thousand kissesAs if the willing branches stroveTo beautify and shade the grove,—

(which, indeed, most branches do).' Pope, as often, is not a little unfair in his critique.

p.144Eternal Night.

Soles occidere, et redire possunt:Nobis, cum semel occidit brevis lux,Nox est perpetua una dormienda.

—Catullus,Ad Lesbiam.

p.148On a Juniper-Tree. This poem is also to be found in the following editions of Rochester's Works:Poems on Several Occasions by the Rt. Hon. the Earl of R——. Printed at Antwerpen. [London.] 1680? InThe Works of the Earls of Rochester, Roscommon, Dorset, 1712; 1718; 1731; 1739 (in which year there were two several and slightly divergent editions); 1752; 1800? It must not, however, be for a moment supposed that the Earl of Rochester has any claim to the authorship of this piece. Unscrupulous booksellers collected songs, poems, satires of every kind under his name and included them amongst his oft-reprinted works without explanation or discrimination. With the opening lines of this poem cf. Horace,Sermonum, i, viii:—

Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum,cum faber, incertus scammum faceretne Priapum,maluit esse deum.

p.148Busks. A Busk is 'A strip of wood, whalebone, steel, or other rigid material passed down the front of a corset and used to stiffen and support it'.N.E.D.which quotes, inter alia, 1688, R. Holme,Armoury, in, 94/2: 'A Busk ... is a strong peece of Wood, or Whalebone thrust down the middle of the Stomacker.'

p.151Mr. Grinhil. John Greenhill, the famous portrait-painter, was born at Salisbury about 1644. He was the eldest son of the registrar of the diocese of Salisbury. About 1662 he migrated to London and became a pupil of Sir Peter Lely. Almost instant success awaited him, and his progress proved so rapid as to excite the master's jealousy. He married early, and was at first industrious. After a few years, however, he became a boon companion of the free-living theatrical and literary circles of the day, and fell into irregular habits. 19 May, 1676, whilst returning from the Vine Tavern, Greenhill fell into the gutter in Long Acre, was carried to his lodging in Lincoln's Inn Fields where he died that same night. He is buried in St. Giles-in-the-Fields. Amongsthis portraits, which are highly esteemed, are those of Charles II; James, Duke of York; Shaftesbury; Locke; Davenant; Cowley; William Cartwright, the actor. This Poem on Greenhill's death has been included amongstPoems on Several Occasions by the Rt. Hon. the Earl of R—— Printed at Antwerpen. [London.] 1680? And again, inPoems on Several Occasions by the R. H. the E. of R. London. 1712.

p.153Mr. J. H.i.e. Mr. John Hoyle.

p.156Our Cabal. Considerable research has unhappily failed to identify most of the personages whose initials appear in this poem. Mr. J. H., however, is John Hoyle, Mrs. Behn's well-known intimate, to whom so many of her poems are addressed. InThe Muses Mercuryfor January, 1708, the verses for Mr. E. B. and Mrs. F. M. are given with this note: 'The following poem was written by Mrs.Behnon one Mr.Edward Butlerand Mrs.Masters, and is a Description of the Success of their Passion, in a little Journey took into the Country, with many more Gentlemen and Ladies of that Time, whom we shall speak of hereafter': a promise which was never fulfilled.

p.163The Willing Mistriss. This song was reprinted inThe Muses Mercury, December, 1707, when it is termed 'A Song forJ. H.' with this note prefixed: 'The following Verses are call'd,A Songby the late Mrs.Behn; we have a Copy of them in her own Hand Writing, as well as of many others never printed, except in our Mercuries; and by her putting herNom de GuerreAstræa to them, we find they were made upon her Self and her very good Friend Mr.Hoyle.' At the end of the third stanza we have: 'As Amorous as these Verses may be thought, they have been reduc'd to bring them within the Rules of Decency, which all Writers ought to observe, or instead of aDiversionthey will become aNuisance.'

p.165Song. When Jemmy. This was reprinted inThe Muses Mercury, September, 1707: as 'On Capt. —— going to the Wars in Flanders',A Song. To a Scotch Tune, and signed Astræa.The Muses Mercuryadds the following note: 'Tho this Poetess's true Name wasApharra, yet she in her Amours and Poetical Characters, assum'd theNomme de GuerreofAstræa: And thus we find this Song subscrib'd by her self, which shews it came from her Heart, however imperfect it may be otherwise.' Surely, so dainty and, indeed, pathetic a little song can need no plea for admittance into any poetical collection.

p.166To Mr. Creech. This poem appears as 'To The Unknown Daphnis on his Excellent translation ofLucretius', dated 'London. Jan. 25, 1682', and signed 'A. Behn' in the second edition of Creech's translation ofLucretius(Oxford, 1683), there are also commendatory verses prefixed to this edition by Waller, Evelyn, Otway, Tate, Duke and others.

p.168The Learned Thirsisis Thomas Sprat (1635-1713), the famous Bishop of Rochester and Dean of Westminster, who matriculated from Wadham, 12 November, 1651, and 25 September, 1652, was elected a scholar. He graduated B.A. 25 June, 1654, M.A. three years later. He took his B.D. and D.D. 3 July, 1669. From 30 June, 1657 to 24 March, 1670 (when he resigned), he held a Wadham fellowship.Cowley, in hisOde to the Royal Society, had praised Sprat'sHistory of the Royal Society of London(1667), and when Cowley died, in 1667, Sprat wroteAn Account of the Life of Mr. Abraham Cowley.

p.169Strephon the Greatis John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647-80), who was admitted a fellow commoner at Wadham, 18 January, 1659-60. He was created M.A. 9 September, 1661, when little more than fourteen. The four silver pint pots he presented to his college are still preserved.

p.171To Mrs. W.i.e. Anne Wharton, born in Oxfordshire about 1632, second daughter and coheiress of Sir Henry Lee, third baronet of Ditchley, by Anne, daughter of Sir John Danvers of Cornbury; 16 September, 1673, she married as his first wife Thomas Wharton (afterwards first Marquis of Wharton), to whom she brought £10,000 dowry and £2,500 a year. The match proved childless and unhappy, and it was only owing to Burnet's persuasions that she did not separate from her husband in 1682. She died at Adderbury, 29 October, 1685, and was buried at Winchendon on 10 November following. Anne Wharton'sElegy on the Death of the Earl of Rochester, which may be found inExamen Miscellaneum(1702), drew a poem from Waller in which he says that she

Shews that still in her he lives.Her Wit is graceful, great, and good,Ally'd in Genius, as in Blood.

The earl's mother was aunt to Mrs. Wharton's father, Sir Henry Lee. Rochester died 26 July, 1680. On p. 242 ofThe Temple of Death, a miscellany (1695), may be read Mrs. Wharton's 'To Mrs. A. Behn, on what she Writ of the Earl of Rochester'. Various other of her poems have appeared in similar collections.

p.173The Return. The first two stanzas of this poem appear inThe Muses Mercury, August, 1707, as 'ToJ. Hoyle, Esq.'

p.175my Lady Morland. Mrs. Behn is here complimenting her friend Carola, daughter of Sir Roger Harsnett, Knight, and second wife of Sir Samuel Morland, whom she married in Westminster Abbey, 26 October, 1670. Lady Morland died 10 October, 1674, aged twenty-two.

For an account of the Queen's visit to Tunbridge Wells ('the place of all Europe the most rural and simple, and yet, at the same time, the most entertaining and agreeable'), see Grammont'sMemoirs. Rochester has a famous satire,Tunbridge Wells. Burr'sHistory of Tunbridge Wellswill be found to give a very full account of that fashionable watering-place.

p.177Song to Ceres.The Wavering Nymph; or, Mad Amyntaswas the name given to a Restoration revival of Randolph's beautiful and truly poeticAmyntas or The Impossible Dowry. The title of the editio princeps runs thus:Amyntas or The Impossible Dowry. A Pastoral Acted before the King and Queen at Whitehall. Written by Thomas Randolph.

Pastorem, Tityre, pinguesPascat oportet oves, diductum dicere Carmen.

Oxford, Printed by Leonard Lichfield for Francis Bordman, 1638.

In the pastoral, Ceres, by an obscure oracle, has announced the dowry to be given to Urania, the daughter of her priest. Amyntas, conceiving it impossible to bestow this required dowry, has lost his wits. The wavering nymph is Laurinda. Eventually the divine riddle is happily solved.

There is no record of the revival for which Mrs. Behn wrote these two songs, but the play was undoubtedly put on at the Duke's house. It was probably acted in 1682-3, when a large number of the older plays were staged, especially such as gave scope for scenic effects and the introduction of musical interludes. In the spring of 1703,Amyntas, reduced to three acts asThe Fickle Shepherdess, was produced at Lincoln's Inn Fields. Mrs. Bracegirdle acted Amyntas, and Mrs. Barry, Clorinda (Laurinda).

p.178The Disappointment. This poem, which was extremely popular, was sent by Mrs. Behn to John Hoyle, her friend, with a letter in which she anxiously urges him to give the lie to various scandals of a grave nature that were current concerning his private life. The letter and the poem are both to be found in the various editions ofFamiliar Letters of Love, Gallantry, &c.This poem was also printed inPoems on Several Occasions by the Rt. Hon. the Earl of R—— Antwerpen.[London.] 1680(?) And inPoems on Several Occasion by the R. H. the E. of R.London. (1712). Under the titleThe Insensibleit is to be found in the following editions of Rochester, 1718; 1731; 1739 (in which year there were two several and slightly divergent editions); 1752; 1800 (?); and in a selected reprintcirca1884. In these editions which containThe Insensible,The Disappointmentis the title given to a different poem seemingly based on Ovid,Amorum, iii, vii. The whole subject has frequently been treated by poets and amorists of all time. Also cf.supranote on aJuniper-Tree.

Mr. G. Thorn Drury has drawn my attention to the fact that the original of Mrs. Behn'sThe Disappointment, entitledSur une Impuissanceis to be found inRecueil de Diverses Poesies Choisies Non encore Imprimées. A Amsterdam, 1661. A full translation of the French verses (Mrs. Behn's is only of part), appears inWit and Drollery(1682), under the titleThe Lost Opportunity recovered. This poem is not given inWit and Drollery(1661).

p.182Sir R. O.Either Sir Rowland Okeover, of Okeover, Staffs., knighted by the King, May (April?), 1665; or Sir Richard Osbaldeston of Hunmanby, York, knighted 12 August, 1681.

p.183The Dream. This song appears inThe Muses Mercury, May, 1707, asCupid in Chains. For variants see Textual Notes, p. 183.

p.185A Letter to a Brother. There is nothing to indicate to whom these satirical lines are addressed. [Ravenscroft?] For 'Sweating-Tub' cf. the Epilogue toThe Lucky Chance: 'Tubs must cure your pain' (Vol. III, p. 279), and note on that passage (p. 492).

p.185Pusillage. cf.The Feign'd Curtezans, i, ii: 'Thou shalt part with thy Pusilage' (Vol. II, p. 320), and note on that passage, (p. 440).

p.188To Pesibles Tune. James Paisible, flautist and composer, who set this charming song to music, was born about 1656. He came toEnglandcirca1680, and soon found patrons, the chief of whom was the Duchess de Mazarin, who, with the help of St. Evremond, continually gave exquisite but elaborate concerts at Paradise Row, Chelsea. In a little drawing-room scena Paisible is actually mentioned by name. He is said to have won great favour owing to his easy manners and fluent wit. 4 December, 1686, he procured a licence for his marriage with one Mary Davis. About 1691 he began to supply overtures and musical interludes for the theatres, and from 1703 to 1714 he set the tunes to Isaac's dances performed at court on birthdays and other gala occasions. He lived in the parish of S. Martin's-in-the-Fields, and died August, 1721. Much of his work has been published and some yet remain in MS. His are the overture and interludes to Southerne'sOroonoko.

p.189Set by Captain Pack. Captain Pack was an exceedingly popular and prolific musician of the day. The British Museum possesses four songs of his in one volume (MS.). Some of his compositions may be found in Playford'sChoice Ayres(1675); inThe Theatre of Music(1685-7); inThe Banquet(1688). Amongst other pieces he composed incidental music for D'Urfey'sDon Quixote, IandII(1694), both the first two parts of which play were received with great applause.

p.191Set by Mr. Farmer. Thomas Farmer, Mus. Bac., was originally one of the Waits of London. He graduated at Cambridge in 1684. He composed much instrumental music for the theatre, and contributed some songs to the second edition of Playford'sChoice Ayres(1675), toThe Theatre of Music(1685-7), and to D'Urfey'sThird Collection of Songs(1685). His is the music to Lee's dramaThe Princess of Cleve(1682), and various other compositions, includingA Consort of Musick(1686), of which work a second part followed a year or two after, bear his name. As Purcell composed an elegy, the words by Nahum Tate, for his funeral, Farmer must have died before 1695.

p.195In Imitation of Horace. An altered expansion of and no very close parallel to

Quis multa gracilis te puer in rosaperfusus liquidis urget odoribusgrato, Pyrrha, sub antro?cui flavam religas comam,simplex munditiis?—Carminum, I, 5.

p.198A Dialogue. There is nothing to show when or for what entertainment this little Pastoral was written.

p.200Mr. J. H.i.e. Mr. John Hoyle.

p.204To the Honourable Edward Howard.The Six Days Adventure; or, The New Utopiawas produced at the Duke's Theatre in 1671, and printed quarto the same year. Although the best of Edward Howard's comedies it was received with scant favour, and the author vindicates himself, pretty sharply rebuking both actors and audience, in a long preface.

Sir Grave Solymour, about to enter the bed of the chaste Celinda, finds himself in the embraces of a black-a-moor, whilst his friends rush in and jeer the precise old knight, whose 'night-hag' eventually provesto be Celinda's sooty page. The 'braverHeroins' of Howard, Serina, Crispina, Eugenia, Petilla, wish to assume and usurp all the privileges of the bolder sex. The scene lies in Utopia. Peacock, created by the low comedian Angel, is a silly fribbling fop.

When the play was printed commendatory verses were prefixed by Ravenscroft and Mrs. Behn, both of whom adopted Pindarics; by J. T.; and by Sam Clyat.

In Mrs. Behn'sMiscellanyof 1685 is included 'A Pindaric by the HonourableEdward Howardto Mrs.B.Occasioned by a Copy she made on his Play, called the NewEutopia'. The piece is fluent and not ungraceful, concluding with a pretty compliment.

Mrs. Behn's Pindarick is reprinted in theMuses Mercury, October, 1707, with this note: 'The following Paper of Verses was written by Mrs.Behn, to a Poet, who being damn'd, declar'd he wou'd write no more: However out of Affection to his Brother Poets, he left Rules for them to write; which she seems to judge kinder of than they deserve; since both the Rules and the Critick are already entirely forgot. The Reader will perceive that Mrs.Behnhad no Notion of a Pindarick Poem, any farther than it consisted of irregular Numbers, and sav'd the Writer the Trouble of even Measure; which indeed is all our common Pindarick Poets know of the Matter.'

Shee who late made the Amazons so Greatrefers to Howard's tragicomedy,The Women's Conquest(4to 1671), the scene of which lies in Scythia, where we meet with several pseudo-classical Amazons.

For a detailed account of Edward Howardvidethe present editor's edition ofThe Rehearsal(pp. 76-9).

p.207the Musick-Meeting. cf. Southerne'sThe Wives Excuse; or, Cuckolds make Themselves(1692), Act i, i: 'the outward Room to the Musick-Meeting,' which gives a very lively picture of these fashionable assemblies. An Italian and then an English song—('which won't oblige a Man to tell you he has seen anOperaatVeniceto understand')—are sung.

p.210Song. This song, with six additional verses (certainly not the work of Mrs. Behn), is found in a broadside, which version is given in Vol. IV. of theRoxburghe Ballads(pp. 656-9), issued by the Ballad Society. In a similar way the song 'Ah Jenny gen your Eyes do kill', sung in theCity Heiress(videVol. II, p. 253), was in another broadside amplified to no less than eighty lines, and dubbed 'The Loves of Jockey and Jenny'. Ebsworth in his note on this song (Roxburghe Ballads, VI, pp. 176-80) refers to Mrs. Behn and says: 'it is less her handiwork than that of her friend Tom D'Urfey, who considered himselffacile princepsin the writing of Anglo-Scotch ditties'. Similar treatment was accorded the 'Song made by a Gentlemen' inSir Patient Fancy, iii, i (Vol. IV, p. 44). For the ballad writer's additions to thisvideRoxburghe Ballads, VI (46-9). It is noticeable that these four stanzas ('Young Jemmy was a Lad') under the titleJemmeyappear inFemale Poems on Several Occasions. 'Written by Ephelia. The Second Edition, with large Additions' (1682). They are not in the first edition (1679) of these Poems. Jemmy is, of course, Monmouth,and in the line 'But oh he dances with a Grace' we have an allusion to his skill in dancing. Evelyn speaks of him as 'an excellent dancer'.

p.211Nickey Nackeys. This song is sung inThe Roundheads(videVol. I, p. 397). Nickey Nackey is the name which the old senator Antonio (a satire on Shaftesbury) gives to the Greek courtezan Aquilina,Venice Preserv'd, iii, i. There may be an allusion to some mistress of that debauched Machiavel.

p.212A Paraphrase on the Eleventh Ode.

Tu ne quaesieris scire nefas, quem mihi, quem tibifinem di dederint, Leuconöe, nec Babyloniostentaris numeros—Horatii,Carminum, I, xi.

p.212A Translation. This charming poem,

Lydia, bella puella candida,Quae bene superas lac et lilium,Albamque simul rosam rubidam,Aut expolitum ebur Indicum....

twenty-five lines in length, was often but quite erroneously ascribed to Cornelius Gallus.videScaligerPoëtices, Lib. VI. It has very frequently been rendered. The versions of Rochester, of Nott, and of Elton are all particularly graceful.

p.213A Paraphrase. As this is not even claimed to be an exact translation from the Heroides we must not too strictly judge any divergence from the original.

p.295The Earl of Melford, &c. Knight of the most Noble Order of the Thistle. John Drummond, first Earl and titular Duke of Melford (1649-1714) was the second son of James, third Earl of Perth. He filled various posts of importance in Scotland, for which country he was in 1684 appointed Secretary of State. Converted to Catholicism, with his brother (Lady Anne Gordon, their mother, had been a staunch Catholic), the two are said practically to have ruled Scotland for three years' space. A firm follower of James II, he accompanied him to exile and supported all his measures. During this period he was busy with many intrigues, and was attainted in 1695. He died at Paris after a long illness in the year 1714.

p.296Thessalian Feilds. A forced conceit. Lucius travelling through Thessaly traverses 'ardua montium et lubrica vallium et roscida cespitum et glebosa camporum'.—Apuleius,Metamorphoseon(I, ii). Again, he is 'anxius alioquin ... reputansque me media Thessaliae loca tenere, quo artis magicae nativa cantamina totius orbis consono ore celebrentur.'—(II, i.)

p.297Sappho. Ephelia, the authoress ofFemale Poems on Several Occasions. 'Written by Ephelia.' 1679. In 1682 appeared 'The Second Edition, with large Additions'. This contains a poem 'To MadamBhen'.

p.297of Thirsis and of Strephon.videnotesupra(on p. 166).

p.298Kendrick. Daniel Kenrick or Kendrick, physician and poet, was born about 1652. 31 March, 1666, he entered Christ Church, Oxon,as a servitor, and proceeded M.A. 1674. He was much esteemed in his native town of Worcester (where he practised as a doctor) as 'a man of wit and a jolly companion.' Several poems of his appear inThe Grove, or a Collection of Original Poems(1721), before which date, however, he was dead. The preface to this book highly praises him, and he appears to have been on terms of intimacy with the great Purcell as well as with Mrs. Behn. Dr. Kenrick is stated 'to have taken his degrees both in divinity and physic, and being a person of vivacity and wit, entertain'd his leisure hours in poetical compositions.' He may be identical with Daniel Kenrick, D.D., who preached the assize sermon at Worcester, in 1688.

p.313any Sir Fopling, or Sir Courtly Nice.cf. Vol. III, p. 278, Epilogue toThe Lucky Chance, 'Nice and Flutter', and note (p. 492) on that passage.

p.313Galliard. Lively, cf. Shadwell'sThe Humorists(1671), Act iii, where Briske says to Theodosia: 'Come Madam, let's be frolick, Galliard, and extraordinary Brisk, fa, la, la, la!'

p.342quillets. A variation of 'quip', a play upon words; or an evasive retort, cf.Love's Labour Lost, iv, 111:—

O! some authority how to proceed;Some tricks, some quillets, how to cheat the devil.

p.343On the Honourable Sir Francis Fane.Sir Francis Fane (died 1690?) was the eldest son of Sir Francis Fane, K.B., F.R.S., of Fulbeck, Lincolnshire, and Aston, Yorkshire. He was created a K.B. at the coronation of Charles II. During the latter part of his life he retired to his country estate at Henbury, Glos., where he died. His will is dated 14 November, 1689, and was proved 15 September, 1691. He is the author of a comedy, a masque, and a tragedy.Love in the Dark; or The Man of Business(4to, 1675), was produced at the Theatre Royal with Lacy, Jo Haines, Mohun, Kynaston and Mrs. Boutel in the cast. The scene is laid at Venice in Carnival time, and Intrigo, a good character, was not forgotten by Mrs. Centlivre when she composedThe Busy Body. The Masque was written at Rochester's request for his alteration ofValentinian. It may be found in Tate'sPoems by Several Hands(8vo, 1685).The Sacrifice(4to, 1689), was never acted, and would hardly have succeeded on the stage. The scene lies in 'a Revolted Fort in China'. It concludes with numerous deaths including that of Tamerlane the Great.Ireneis his daughter belov'd byAxalla'General to Tamerlane'.Despinais the wife of the Emperor Bajazet.Ragalzanis pithily designated a Villain, and he well merits the description. There is a copy of prefatory verses 'To The Author' by Nahum Tate, but neither prologue nor epilogue. Fane's plays are not without merit, but yet do not occupy a noteworthy rank in our theatrical library.

p.348To Alexis in Answer. This poem was written in answer to a copy of verses (which inLycidus, 1688, immediately precede it), entitled 'A Poem against fruition—written on the reading inMountains Essay:ByAlexis'.

p.350A Pastoral Pindarick.On the Marriage of the Right Hon. the Earle of Dorset and Middlesex to the Lady Mary Compton. Charles Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, sixth Earl of Dorset and Earl of Middlesex (1638-1706), wit, courtier, poet, debauchee, married his second wife Mary, daughter of James Compton, third Earl of Northampton, in 1685. Lady Mary Compton, who became lady of the bedchamber to Queen Mary II, was celebrated for her beauty and understanding. She died 6 August 1691. Walpole says of Sackville that he was the finest gentleman of the voluptuous court of Charles II. It has been well observed that after 1668 we hear little of his debaucheries, much of his munificence to and patronage of men of letters.

p.359Calenture.A tropical fever and delirium, especially incidental to sailors in torrid climes. Hence used very widely for any glow, passion, ardour, cf. Donne,Poems: 'Knowledge kindles Calenture in some.' Jeremy Taylor speaks of 'Calentures of primitive devotion'.

p.360To Amintas.To Amintas,upon reading the Lives of some of theRomans. TheMuses Mercuryreprints this poem, April, 1707, as 'To Mr. H——le, being belov'd by both Sexes. Upon Reading the Lives of the Romans. By Mrs.A. Behn.' In the British Museum copy of this number an old hand has supplied the omitted letters 'oy' and we have Mr. Hoyle.

p.361On the first discovery.This poem appeared in theMuses Mercury, March, 1707, with the following note: 'If it were proper to make publick what we have learnt of the Story of the Author of the following Verses, 'twould be an unquestionable Proof of their beinggenuine. For they are all Writ with her own Hand in a Person's Book who was very much her Friend; and from thence are now transcrib'd for theMercury. There are Fifteen or Sixteen Copies of Verse more, which will in due time be printed in this Collection. There's no Man who knows any thing of Mrs.Behn'sway of Writing, but will presently see, that this Poem was written by her Self; and the rest are of the same Character.' TheMuses Mercury, as a fact, gave eleven other poems beside the present verses. Eight of these had already been printed:On the first discovery of falseness in Amintas(p. 361) appears March, 1707, asThe Disoblig'd Love.To Amintas(p. 360) appears April, 1707, asTo Mr. H——le, being belov'd by both Sexes. Upon reading the Lives of the Romans.The Dream(p. 183) appears May, 1707, asCupid in Chains.Of The Return(p. 173) the first two stanzas appear August, 1707, as 'To J. Hoyle, Esq.'Song(When Jemmy first) (p. 165) appears September, 1707, asOn Capt. —— going to the War in Flanders.To the Honourable Edward Howard(p. 204) appears October, 1707, asTo the Author of a new Eutopia, A Pindarick.The Willing Mistriss(p. 163) appears December, 1707, asA Song for J. H.Mr. E. B. and Mrs. F. M.(p. 159) appears January, 1708, asThe Loves of Mirtillo and Phillis. From their notice and the reprinting of so many pieces it would seem that the editors of theMuses Mercurywere not very well acquainted with Mrs. Behn's published Poems.

p.364Westminster Drollery.This song has been here included fromWestminster Drollery(1671), on the authority of Ebsworth. It cannot,however, originally be Mrs. Behn's since it appears in a fuller form asTo his Whore who askt money of him(Wit and Drollery, 1656). There are other variants. It will be remembered that inThe Rover, II, v, 1 (Vol. I, p. 195), Willmore jestingly sings the fifth verse to La Nuche.

p.365.Sir William Clifton. Sir William Clifton, Bart., of Clifton, Notts, the only surviving son of Sir Clifford Clifton, Knight, and Frances his wife, daughter of Sir Heneage Finch, Knight, Recorder of London, succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his uncle Sir Gervase Clifton, 14 January, 1675. Sir William Clifton died unmarried, leaving two sisters, coheirs.

p.368On the Death of the late Earl of Rochester.John Wilmot, second Earl of Rochester, libertine, poet, wit, died from a complication of ailments due to his profligacies on 26 July, 1680, at the High Lodge, Woodstock Park, whither he had journeyed in the preceding April. During the last three months of his life he shewed signs of a sincere penitence. He was much comforted by the ministrations of his chaplain, Robert Parsons, and on 25 June he wrote to Gilbert Burnet to come and receive his death-bed repentance. Burnet arrived 20 July, and stayed four days, spending the time in consolatory exhortations and prayer. Parsons' funeral sermon giving an account of Rochester's death and penitence is well known, but Burnet's book,Some Passages of the Life and Death of John, Earl of Rochester(1680, 8vo), has been even more constantly re-issued. The Earl was buried in the north aisle of Spelsbury church, Oxfordshire, but without any inscription or monument to mark the grave.

p.369Cyprus.A fine transparent stuff now called crape, cf.Winter's Tale, iv, iv (first folio):—

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