Notes on Book XII. 182
Postscript to the Reader, 187
POEMS ASCRIBED TO DRYDEN.
An Essay upon Satire, 201
A familiar Epistle to Mr Julian, 218
The Art of Poetry, 227
Tarquin and Tullia, 267
On the young Statesman, 273
Suum Cuique, 276
DRYDEN’S ORIGINAL PROSE WORKS.
Essay of Dramatic Poesy, 283
Dedication to the Earl of Dorset and Middlesex, 286
Heads of an Answer to Mr Rymer’s Remarks on the Tragedies of
the last Age, 383
Preface to Notes and Observations on the Empress of Morocco, 397
Preface to the Husband his own Cuckold, 414
VOLUME SIXTEENTH.
The Life of St Francis Xavier, of the Society of Jesus, Apostle
of the Indies, and of Japan, 1
Dedication to the Queen, 3
The Author’s Advertisement to the Reader, 8
Book I. 14
Book II. 59
Book III. 116
Book IV. 191
Book V. 288
Book VI. 408
VOLUME SEVENTEENTH.
The Life of Plutarch, 1
Dedication to the Duke of Ormond, &c. 5
Specimen of the Translation of the History of the League, 77
Dedication to the King, 81
The Author’s Advertisement to the Reader, 93
The History of the League, Book III. 101
Postscript to the History of the League, 150
Controversy between Dryden and Stillingfleet concerning
the Duchess of York’s Paper, 185
Copy of a Paper written by the late Duchess of York, &c. 189
An Answer to the Duchess’s Paper by the Rev. Edward
Stillingfleet, 194
A Defence of the Paper written by the Duchess of York,
against the Answer made to it, 208
An Answer to the Defence of the Third Paper, 252
The Art of Painting, by C. A. Du Fresnoy, with Remarks
translated into English; with an original Preface,
containing a Parallel between Painting and Poetry, 279
A Parallel of Poetry and Painting, 286
The Preface of M. de Piles, the French Translator, 333
VOLUME EIGHTEENTH.
Preface to a Dialogue concerning Women; being a Defence
of the Sex, 1
Character of M. St Evremont, 9
The Character of Polybius, 17
The Life of Lucian, 53
Dryden’s Letters, 83
Appendix, 183
Index, i
FINIS.
* * * * *
EDINBURGH:
Printed by James Ballantyne & Co.
DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER.
The Binder is requested to pay particular attention to the placing of
the following Cancels in DRYDEN’S WORKS:--
Vol. I. Pages 29, 75.
II. Page 3. (Advert.), Pages 15, 111, 469, and add pages 471-2.
III. Page 429, to be found in the last sheet of Vol. VI.
VII. Page 317.
IX. Page 435.
XI. Add pages 161-2 after the Title, “Odes, Songs, and Lyrical
Pieces.”
XII. Contents.
XIII. Pages 97, 297.
The Cancels will be found put up with Vol. II.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Mr Walsh was born in 1663, and in 1691 must have been twenty-eight
years old. Still he was but a youth in the eyes of Dryden, who was now
advanced in life.
[2] Mr Malone observes, that, according to Antony Wood, (_Ath. Oxon._
ii. 423.) this was not said _of_ Waller, but _by_ that poet, of Sir
John Denham.--“In the latter end of the year 1641, Sir John published
the tragedy called the ‘Sophy,’ which took extremely much, and was
admired by all ingenious men, particularly by Edmund Waller of
Beaconsfield, who then said of the author, that he broke out, like the
Irish rebellion, threescore thousand strong, before any body was aware,
or the least suspected it.” Mr Malone adds, that the observation is
more applicable to Denham than to Waller; for Denham, from the age of
sixteen, when he went to Trinity College, in Oxford, November 18, 1631,
to the time of his father’s death, January 6, 1638-9, was considered as
a dull and dissipated young man; whereas Waller distinguished himself,
as a poet, before he was eighteen. Besides, the “Sophy” was published
just when the Irish rebellion broke out.
[3] In one passage of the Dialogue, our author’s version of the sixth
satire of Juvenal is mentioned with commendation; and in another, the
tragedy of “Aureng-Zebe” is quoted.
[4] St Evremont wrote “Observations on Segrais’ Translation of Virgil.”
[5]
----“He at Philippi kept
His sword even like a dancer;----
----he alone
Dealt on lieutenancy, and no practice had
In the brave squares of war.”
_Antony and Cleopatra._
[6] A tragedy by Racine. St Evremont, in a dissertation on this play,
addressed to Madame Borneau, severely reprobates the fault so common in
French tragedy, of making a play, though the scene is laid in ancient
Rome or India, centre and turn upon Parisian manners. He concludes,
that Corneille is the only author of the nation that displays a true
taste for antiquity.
[7] The full title is, “The History of Polybius the Megalopolitan;
containing a general Account of the Transactions of the World, and
principally of the Roman People during the first and second Punic Wars.
Translated by Sir H.S. To which is added a Character of Polybius and
his Writings, by Mr Dryden, 1693.”
[8] Where he enumerates the translators of Lucian in the Supplement to
his Life.
[9] Vol. VIII. p. 203.
[10] “History of Polybius, the five first bookes entire, with all the
parcels of subsequent bookes unto the eighteenth, according to the
Greeke original. Also, the manner of the Romane encamping. Translated
into English, by Edward Grimestone, sergeant at armes.” London, 1634.
Folio.
[11] From these expressions, one would suppose Sir Henry Shere to
have been a seaman, which may also be conjectured from his writing an
“Essay on the certainty and causes of the Earth’s Motion on its Axis;”
and a “Discourse concerning the Mediterranean Sea and the Straits of
Gibraltar;” the one published in 1698, the other in 1705. The naval
and military professions were, however, formerly accounted less
absolutely distinct branches of service than at present. Many officers
distinguished themselves in both. Mr Malone may therefore be right in
conjecturing Sir Henry Shere to have been a soldier, though his studies
would argue him a seaman or engineer.
[12] _Polybii Lycortæ F. Megalopolites Historiarum Libri, qui
supersunt, Gr. Lat. Isaacus Casaubonus, ex antiquis libris emendavit,
Lat. vertit et commentariis illustravit. Accessit Æneæ vetustissimi
Tactici commentarius de toleranda obsidione. Isaaeus Casaubonus primus
vulgavit, Latinam interpretationem ac notas adjecit. Parisiis, 1609,
Folio._
[13] “The fame of Nicholas the Fifth, (who sat in the papal chair
from 1447 to 1455,) has not,” says Mr Gibbon,--_Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire_, vi. 429, 4to.) “been adequate to his merits. From
a plebeian origin, he raised himself, by his virtue and learning.
The character of the man prevailed over the interests of the pope;
and he sharpened those weapons, which were soon pointed against the
Roman church. He had been the friend of the most eminent scholars of
the age; he became their patron; and such was the humility of his
manners, that the change was scarcely discernible, either to them or
to himself. If he pressed the acceptance of a liberal gift, it was not
as the measure of desert, but as the proof of benevolence; and when
modest merit declined his bounty, ‘Accept it,’ would he say, with a
consciousness of his own worth; ‘you will not always have a Nicholas
among ye.’ The influence of the holy see pervaded Christendom; and he
exerted that influence in the search, not of benefices, but of books.
From the ruins of the Byzantine libraries, from the darkest monasteries
of Germany and Britain, he collected the dusty manuscripts of the
writers of antiquity; and wherever the original could not be removed,
a faithful copy was transcribed, and transmitted for his use. The
Vatican, the old repository for bulls and legends, for superstition
and forgery, was daily replenished with more precious furniture; and
such was the industry of Nicholas, that, in a reign of eight years,
he formed a library of five thousand volumes. To his munificence,
the Latin world was indebted for the versions of Xenophon, Diodorus,
Polybius, Thucydides, Herodotus, and Appian; of Strabo’s Geography;
of the Iliad; of the most valuable works of Plato and Aristotle; of
Ptolemy and Theophrastus; and of the fathers of the Greek church. The
example of the Roman pontiff was preceded, or imitated, by a Florentine
merchant, who governed the republic without arms, and without a title.
Cosmo, of Medicis, was the father of a line of princes, whose name and
age are almost synonymous with the restoration of learning. His credit
was ennobled into fame; his riches were dedicated to the service of
mankind; he corresponded at once with Cairo and London, and a cargo
of Indian spices and Greek books was imported in the same vessel. The
genius and education of his grandson, Lorenzo, rendered him not only a
patron, but a judge and candidate in the literary race. In his palace,
distress was entitled to relief, and merit to reward. His leisure
hours were delightfully spent in the Platonic academy; he encouraged
the emulation of Demetrius Chalcocondyles and Angelo Politian; and
his active missionary, Janus Lascaris, returned from the East with a
treasure of two hundred manuscripts, fourscore of which were as yet
unknown in the libraries of Europe. The rest of Italy was animated by
a similar spirit, and the progress of the nation repaid the liberality
of the princes. The Latins held the exclusive property of their
own literature; and these disciples of Greece were soon capable of
transmitting and improving the lessons which they had imbibed. After a
short succession of foreign teachers, the tide of emigration subsided;
but the language of Constantinople was spread beyond the Alps; and the
natives of France, Germany, and England, imparted to their country the
sacred fire which they had kindled in the schools of Florence and Rome.”
[14] Our author recollected the following panegyric on Pope Nicholas,
in the Dedication of Casaubon’s edition of Polybius, to Henry IV. of
France:
“_Quum enim a pluribus retro sæculis, in principum animis, toto
Occidente, amor politioris literaturæ et Græci sermonis excoluisset;
accidit non sine numine profecto, ut circa illa ipsa tempora
Byzantinæ cladis, et paullo ante, summi in Europa viri et principes
generossissimi hunc veternum ceu virgula divina tacti, opportune
excuterent, et ad bene merendum de studiis politioribus et de linguis,
ardore incredibili accenderentur. Prima terrarum Italia ad hanc
palmam occupandam, è diuturno torpore tunc demum expergefacta, sese
concitavit, et nationibus aliis per Europam, exemplum quod imitarentur
præbuit. In ipsa verò Italia, ad certamen adeo gloriosum, Nicolaus
Quintus Pontifex Maximus, in cujus extrema tempora Byzantini imperii
eversio incidit, princeps, quod equidem sciam, signum sustulit. Nam et
literarum dicitur fuisse intelligentissimus; et,_ _quod res arguit,
earum amore erat flagrantissimus. Primus hic, illa ætate, libros
antiquorum scriptorum sedulo conquirere curæ habuit; magnamque earum
copiam in Vaticanam intulit; primus cum assiduis hortatibus, tum
ingentibus etiam propositis præmiis, ad meliorem literaturam è tenebris
oblivionis in lucem revocandam, homines Italos stimulavit: primus,
Græcæ linguæ auctores omnis sincerioris doctrinæ esse promos condos qui
uon ignoraret, ut Latino sermone exprimerentur, vehementissime optavit,
et efficere contendit_.”
[15] That is, the first five books.
[16] Polybius, the historian, was born at Megalopolis, in Arcadia,
in the fourth year of the 143d Olympiad, about 205 years before the
Christian æra. Being carried to Rome as an hostage, he became the
companion and friend of the younger Scipio Africanus; accompanied him
in his campaigns; and is said to have witnessed the destruction of
Carthage, in the 158th Olympiad. Having returned to his native country,
he died in the 164th Olympiad, 124 years before Christ, in consequence
of a fall from his horse.
The history of Polybius embraced the space from the first year of the
140th to the first of the 153d Olympiad, being fifty-three years.
[17] Nicolo Peretti published a Latin version of the first five books
of Polybius, at Rome, in 1473, folio. The first Greek edition appeared
in 1530; the second at Basle, in 1549. The last is most esteemed.
[18] “Plutarch tells us, that Brutus was thus employed the day before
the battle of Pharsalia. ‘It was the middle of summer; the heats
were intense, the marshy situation of the camp disagreeable, and his
tent-bearers were long in coming. Nevertheless, though extremely
harassed and fatigued, he did not anoint himself till noon; and then
taking a morsel of bread, while others were at rest, or musing on the
event of the ensuing day, he employed himself till the evening in
writing an epitome of Polybius.”--MALONE.
[19] With a thousand of his countrymen, whom the Romans ordered thither
as hostages, after the conquest of Macedonia.
[20] A. U. C. 608.
[21] A. U. C. 607.
[22] The word _and_ renders this passage ungrammatical.--MALONE.
[23] Mr Malone justly conjectures, that Dryden here thought of his old
master James II., whose economy bordered on penury, and whose claims of
prerogative approached to tyranny.
[24] Philip de Commines, author of the excellent Memoirs of his
own time. He was born in Flanders, and was for several years a
distinguished ornament of the court of Charles the Bold, Duke of
Burgundy, his native sovereign; but was tempted to divert his service
for that of Louis XI. by whom he was employed in several negociations.
After the death of that monarch, Commines fell into disgrace with his
successor, and was long detained in prison: he died in 1509. It was of
this historian Catherine de Medicis was wont to say, “that he made as
many heretics in the state, as Luther in the Church.”
[25] In the year of Rome 568.
[26] I believe the most enthusiastic admirers of Livy must tire of
these unvaried prodigies. _Et bos locutus_ occurs as often, and is
mentioned with as much indifference, as a nomination of sheriffs in
Hall, Stowe, or Speed.
[27] See Vol. XIII. p. 68. where our author, in his “Essay on Satire,”
controverts keenly the position of Casaubon.
[28] In his thirty-eight year, forty-three being the legal age.
[29] The elegant translator, however, gives us no information on
that subject; his preface being principally a panegyric upon good
discipline, which, without much risque of contradiction, he affirms to
be the “substance and sum total of military science.”
[30] Thomas Stanley’s “History of Philosophy,” &c. was published in
folio, in detached parts, between 1655 and 1660; and reprinted entire
in 1687.
[31] A. D. 375. Rufinus was chief prefect of the East. The person here
alluded to was only count of fifteen provinces. Dryden, writing from
memory, confounded the offices of the murderer and murdered. See the
next note.
[32] Gibbon thus narrates the catastrophe:--“The extreme parsimony
of Rufinus left him only the reproach and envy of ill-gotten wealth.
His dependents served him without attachment; the universal hatred of
mankind was repressed only by the influence of servile fear. The fate
of Lucian proclaimed to the East, that the prefect, whose industry
was much abated in the dispatch of ordinary business, was active and
indefatigable in the pursuit of revenge. Lucian, (the son of the
prefect Florentius, the oppressor of Gaul, and the enemy of Julian,)
had employed a considerable part of his inheritance, the fruit of
rapine and corruption, to purchase the friendship of Rufinus, and the
high office of Count of the East. But the new magistrate imprudently
departed from the maxims of the court and of the times; disgraced his
benefactor, by the contrast of a virtuous and temperate administration;
and presumed to refuse an act of injustice, which might have tended to
the profit of the emperor’s uncle. Arcadius was easily persuaded to
resent the supposed insult; and the prefect of the East resolved to
execute in person the cruel vengeance which he meditated against this
ungrateful delegate of his power. He performed, with incessant speed,
the journey of seven or eight hundred miles, from Constantinople to
Antioch, entered the capital of Syria at the dead of night, and spread
universal consternation among a people ignorant of his design, but not
ignorant of his character. The count of the fifteen provinces of the
East was dragged, like the vilest malefactor, before the arbitrary
tribunal of Rufinus. Notwithstanding the clearest evidence of his
integrity, which was not impeached even by the voice of an accuser,
Lucian was condemned, almost without a trial, to suffer a cruel and
ignominious punishment. The ministers of the tyrant, by the order, and
in the presence, of their master, beat him on the neck with leather
thongs, armed at the extremities with lead; and when he fainted under
the violence of the pain, he was removed in a close litter to conceal
his dying agonies from the eyes of the indignant city. No sooner
had Rufinus perpetrated this inhuman act, the sole object of his
expedition, than he returned amidst the deep and silent curses of a
trembling people, from Antioch to Constantinople; and his diligence was
accelerated by the hope of accomplishing, without delay, the nuptials
of his daughter with the emperor of the East.”--GIBBON’S _Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire_, vol. iii. p. 209.
The punctuation throughout this piece is so inaccurate, and the
paragraphs so strangely divided, that it must have been printed from
a copy very carelessly written. In the present passage, we find
_Rafiany_, instead of _Rufinus_. MALONE.
[33] A. D. 312. He suffered for favouring the Arians. MALONE.
[34] A. D. 415. He was minister of Caphargamala, and pretended to have
been instructed by a dream of the burial place of the proto-martyr
Stephen, Gamaliel, and other saints. See GIBBON’S _History_, vol. iii.
p. 97.
Several other persons of this name, besides those here mentioned, are
enumerated by Fabricius. _Bibl. Græc._ iv. 508.
[35] Dr Franklin seems disposed to fix on the year 90.
[36] _Procurator principis_. Under Marcus Aurelius.
[37] See _Juv._ sat. i. 44.; vii. 148.; xv. 111. _Quintil._ lib. x.
cap. 3.
[38] Dr Jasper Mayne, who published a translation of some select
dialogues of Lucian, in folio, in 1664.
[39] I follow Mr Malone in reading _might_; the printed copy has _must_.
[40] This is a gross mistake, 180 years intervening between the death
of Aurelius and the reign of Julian.
[41] Nicolas Perrot, Sieur d’Ablancourt, whose translation of the
Dialogues of Lucian into French was first published at Paris in 1634.
His continuation of the true history of Lucian is very much in the tone
of the original.
[42] This observation had been made by Gilbertas Cognatus, and by
Thomas Hickes, in his Life of Lucian, printed in 1634. MALONE.
[43] Entitled “Philopatris.” The Christian religion, and its mysteries,
are ridiculed in this piece with very little ceremony.
[44] Gesner has written a long Latin essay upon this point, which is
subjoined to the third volume of Lucian’s works, in the 4to edition of
Hemsterhucius.
[45] I follow Mr Malone in reading _eclectic_ for _elective_.
[46] The best judges have condemned Εταιρικοι Διαλογοι, or
“Dialogues of the Harlots,” as not being genuine. They are at any rate
gross and devoid of humour.
[47] I presume a cant phrase for a graft from that garden of knowledge.
[48] The work alluded to, which was written by the Rev. Dr John
Eachard, (Master of Catharine Hall, in Cambridge, and author of the
“Grounds of the Contempt of the Clergy,”) was published in 1671, and
was entitled “Mr Hobbes’s State of Nature considered; in a Dialogue
between Philautus and Timothy.” MALONE.
[49] This gentleman, whom our author has again mentioned with esteem,
in the “Parallel of Poetry and Painting,” (Vol. XVII. p. 312.) was
the son of Sir Walter Moyle, and was born in the year 1672. He was
educated to the study of law, and became a member of Parliament in
1695. He composed a variety of treatises, on various subjects, which
are comprised in a collection of three volumes 8vo, the last being
posthumous. Mr Moyle died in 1721.
[50] Charles Blount, the son of Sir Henry, and brother to Sir Edward
Pope Blount. He early appeared as a defender and admirer of Dryden, by
publishing an answer to Leigh’s “Censure of the Rota in the Conquest
of Granada.” It was entitled, “Mr Dryden vindicated, in Reply to the
Friendly Vindication of Mr Dryden, with Reflections on the Rota.”
Mr Blount distinguished himself as a friend to civil liberty during
the crisis preceding the Revolution; but was still better known by
the deistical tracts entitled “_Anima Mundi_,” “Life of Appolonius
Tyaneus,” “Diana of the Ephesians,” and the “_Religio Laici_,” which
last he published anonymously in 1683, and inscribed to our author.
The death of Blount was voluntary. Having lost his wife, the daughter
of Sir Timothy Tyrrel of Shotover, he fell in love with her sister, and
being unable to remove her scruples upon the lawfulness of their union,
shot himself in a fit of despair, in August 1693. His miscellaneous
works were published by Galden in 1695.
He was a man of deep and extensive reading, and probably better
qualified, in point of learning, to translate Lucian, than most of his
coadjutors.
[51] This and two or three other passages shew, that this life was
written hastily, and that it had not been carefully revised by the
author. MALONE.
[52] Ferrand Spence, who published a translation of Lucian’s Dialogues
in four volumes, 8vo, in 1684.
[53] Francis Hickes published a translation of Select Dialogues from
Lucian, 4to, 1634.
[54] Vol XVII. p. 1.
[55] Mr Malone substitutes _lost_ for _left_.
[56] The lady to whom this letter is addressed was our author’s first
cousin, one of the daughters of his uncle, Sir John Dryden. She
probably was born, (says Mr Malone,) about the year 1637, and died,
unmarried, some time after 1707.
The seal, (he adds,) under which runs a piece of blue ribband, is a
crest of a demi-lion, on a wreath, holding in his paws an armillary
sphere at the end of a stand. The letter seems in reply to one from the
fair lady, with a present of writing materials. It is a woeful sample
of the gallantry of the time, alternately coarse and pedantic.
[57] Person _quasi_ parson, which word was originally so spelled. The
custom of preaching by an hour-glass has been before noticed.
[58] A copy of this letter is in the Museum, MSS. Harl. 7003. The
Dedication alluded to, must have been that of “Marriage A-la-Mode,” to
which Rochester had replied by a letter of thanks; and we have here
Dryden’s reply. (See Vol. I. p. 181, and Vol. IV. p. 235.) The date is
supplied by Mr Malone from internal evidence.
[59] Lord Rochester translated some part of Lucretius.
[60] In the year 1672, Monsieur Schomberg was invited into England to
command the army raised for the Dutch war, then encamped on Blackheath.
He was to be joined in this command with Villiers, Duke of Buckingham,
who held a commission of lieutenant-general only. But when Schomberg
arrived, he refused to serve equally with Buckingham, and was made
general; on which the other resigned his commission in disgust. (See
Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham’s _Memoirs_, p. 5.) Dryden, still
smarting under the “Rehearsal,” just then come out, was probably not
sorry to take this opportunity to turn the author’s pretensions into
ridicule.
[61] Eight thousand land forces were embarked on board the English
fleet to make a descent in Zealand.
[62] Sir John Eaton was a noted writer of songs at the time.
[63] Mr Malone conjectures Tregonwell Frampton, keeper of the royal
stud at Newmarket; who was born in 1641, and died in 1727. Brother John
must remain in obscurity.
[64] Probably the grandson of Sir George Hume, created Earl of Dunbar
by James the First, in 1605.
[65] Henry Brouncker, younger brother of William, Viscount Brouncker.
He was a gentleman of the Duke of York’s bed-chamber, and carried the
false order to slacken sail, after the great battle in 1665, when
the Duke was asleep, by which the advantage gained in the victory
was entirely lost. There is a great cloud over the story; but that
Brouncker was an infamous character, must be concluded on all hands. He
was expelled the House of Commons; and countenanced by the king more
than he deserved, being “never notorious for any thing but the highest
degree of impudence, and stooping to the most infamous offices.”
--Continuation of Clarendon’s Life, quoted by Malone.
[66] Aubery de Vere, the twentieth and last Earl of Oxford, of that
family. This nobleman seduced an eminent actress (said, by some
authorities, to be Mrs Marshall, but conjectured, by Mr Malone, to have
been Mrs Davenport,) to exchange her profession for his protection. The
epithet, applied to him in the lines, renders it improbable that he
imposed on her by a mock-marriage, though the story is told by Count
Hamilton, and others.
[67] The Prologue and Epilogue in question may have been those spoken
by Mr Hart and Mrs Marshall, (Vol. X. p. 328). But, in this case, the
date of their being delivered has been placed too late. Exact accuracy
is of little consequence; but I fear the hint in the letter gives some
reason for Tom Brown’s alleging, that Dryden flattered alternately the
wits of the town at the cost of the university, and the university
scholars at the expence of the London audience. I cry that facetious
person mercy, for having said there was no proof of his accusation. See
Vol. X. p. 113.
[68] There is no address or superscription.
[69] John Dryden admitted a King’s scholar in 1682.
[70] This letter from Lady Elizabeth Dryden seems to have been written
at the same time, and on the same subject:
HONNORED SIR, Ascension Day, [1682.]
I hope I need use noe other argument to you in excuse of my sonn for
not coming to church to Westminster then this, that he now lies at
home, and thearfore cannot esilly goe soe far backwards and forwards.
His father and I will take care, that he shall duely goe to church
heare, both on holydayes and Sundays, till he comes to be more nearly
under your care in the college. In the mean time, will you pleas to
give me leave to accuse you of forgetting your prommis conserning my
eldest sonn, who, as you once assured me, was to have one night in a
weeke alowed him to be at home, in considirasion both of his health
and cleanliness. You know, Sir, that prommises mayd to women, and
espiceally mothers, will never faille to be cald upon; and thearfore I
will add noe more, but that I am, at this time, your remembrancer, and
allwayes, honnord Sir,
Your humble servant,
E. DRYDEN.
[71] His eldest son Charles, as Mr Malone supposes.
[72] In the hall of the college of Westminster, when the boys are at
dinner, it is, _ex officio_, the place of the second boy, in the second
election, to keep order among the two under elections; and if any word,
after he has ordered silence, be spoken, except in Latin, he says to
the speaker, _tu es_ CUSTOS; and this term passes from the second
speaker to the third, or more, till dinner is over. Whoever is then
_custos_, has an imposition.
It is highly probable, (adds the very respectable gentleman, to whom
I am indebted for this information,) that there had formerly been _a
tessera_, or _symbolum_ delivered from boy to boy, as at some French
schools now, and that _custos_ meant _custos tesseræ, symboli_, &c.;
but at Westminster, the symbol is totally unknown at present. MALONE.
[73] Dr John Dolben, then Bishop of Rochester, afterwards of York. See
Vol. IX. p. 303.
[74] Mr Malone says, “The person meant was Robert Morgan, who was
elected with Charles Dryden into the college of Westminster, in 1680,
and is the only one of those then admitted, who was elected to Oxford
in 1682. That circumstance, therefore, ascertains the year when this
letter was written.”
[75] The two last letters are printed from Mr Malone’s copy, to whom
the originals were communicated by Mr John Nichols, author of the
History of Leicestershire.
[76] To this curious and valuable letter, Mr Malone has added the
address to Rochester and the date, both of which are conjectural. Hyde,
Earl of Rochester, was made first commissioner of the treasury in 1679,
and continued prime minister till September 1684. Let it be remembered
by those men of talents, who may be tempted to engage in the sea of
politics, that Dryden thus sued for what was his unquestionable due,
within two years after having written “Absalom and Achitophel,” and
“The Medal,” in defence of the government, to whom he was suppliant for
so small a boon.
[77] Edward, Earl of Clarendon. It is uncertain in what manner our
author undertook his defence.
[78] The place which our author here solicits, (worth only 200l.
a-year,) was the first office that Addison obtained, which he used to
call “the _little thing_ given me by Lord Halifax.” Locke also, after
the Revolution, was a commissioner of appeals. MALONE.
[79] The “History of the League,” entered on the Stationers’ books
early in 1684, and “Englished by his Majesties express command.”
[80] This application was successful; and Dryden elsewhere expresses
his gratitude, that his wants were attended to, and relieved during the
penury of an exhausted Exchequer; Cowley’s simile, he observed, was
reversed, and Gideon’s fleece was watered, while all around remained
parched and arid.
[81] What this circumstance was cannot now be discovered.
[82] The Duchess of Ormond died July 1684.
[83] The first edition of Lord Roscommon’s “Essay on Translated Verse”
appeared in 1684, and a second edition was published by Jacob Tonson in
4to, early in 1685.
[84] In the first edition it stood,
“That here his conqu’ring ancestors _was_ nurs’d.”
[85] Latin Verses by Charles Dryden, prefixed to Lord Roscommon’s Essay.
[86] Knightly Chetwood. He wrote Lord Roscommon’s life.
[87] Dryden was now about to publish the second volume of the
Miscellanies; in which it would appear to have been settled, that
nothing should be inserted but what was new. “_Religio Laici_,”
therefore, as having been formerly published, was laid aside for the
present.
[88] Probably “Albion and Albanius,” which was afterwards completed and
ready to be performed in Feb. 1684-5.
[89] The singing Opera was probably that of “King Arthur,” to which
“Albion and Albanius” was originally designed as a prelude. But it was
not acted till after the Revolution.
[90] “All for Love,” and “The Conquest of Granada.”
[91] His second son.
[92] His eldest son.
[93] The Third Miscellany was published in July 1693.
[94] The author was at this time in Northamptonshire. The original has
no date but August 30th; but the year is ascertained by the reference
to the third Miscellany, which was published in July 1693. MALONE.
[95] To whom the Third Miscellany is dedicated. I fear this alludes
to some disappointment in the pecuniary compliment usual on such
occasions. See the Dedication, Vol. XII. p. 47.
[96] This commission will probably remind the reader of the poetic diet
recommended by Bayes.--“If I am to write familiar things, as sonnets
to Armida, and the like, I make use of _stewed prunes_ only; but, when
I have a grand design in hand, I ever take physics, and let blood;
for, when you would have pure swiftness of thought, and fiery flights
of fancy, you must have a care of the pensive part. In fine, you must
purge the belly.
_Smith._ By my troth, Sir, this is a most admirable receipt for writing.
_Bayes._ Aye, ’tis my secret; and, in good earnest, I think one of the
best I have.” _Rehearsal_, act i.
This is an instance of the minute and malicious diligence, with which
the most trivial habits and tastes of our author were ridiculed in the
“Rehearsal.”
[97] Sir Matthew, with whom Dryden appears to have resided at this
time, is unknown.
[98] Sir John Trenchard, who was made one of the secretaries of state
March 23, 1691-2, died in office in April 1695.
[99] “A short View of Tragedy,” published (as appears from the
Gentleman’s Journal, by P. Motteux,) in Dec. 1692. The date in the
title-page is, 1693.
[100] See Vol. XII. p.45.
[101] Dennis, the critic, afterwards so unfortunately distinguished by
the satire of Pope. Like Rymer, and others, he retained considerable
reputation for critical acumen, until he attempted to illustrate his
precepts by his own compositions.
[102] Sir Richard Blackmore was doomed to accomplish this prophecy. See
Vol. XI. p. 236. and the Life of Dryden, p. 6.
[103] In his Short View of Tragedy. See Vol. XII. pp. 45, 51.
[104] This lesson was thrown away upon poor Dennis, who, by his rash
and riotous attacks upon Pope, afterwards procured an immortality of a
kind very different from that to which he aspired.
[105] Dryden’s evil opinion of the state of matrimony, never fails to
glance forth upon such occasions as the present.
[106] One of the subscribers of the higher class. The decorations were
probably his armorial bearings.
[107] It was an ancient British custom, and prevailed in Scotland
within these forty years, to finish all bargains, contracts, and even
consultations, at a tavern, that the parties might not, according to
the ancient Caledonian phrase, part _dry-lipp’d_. The custom between
authors and booksellers seems to have been universal; and the reader
may recollect, that the supposed poisoning of the celebrated Edmund
Curl took place at a meeting of this kind.
[108] At Burleigh, the seat of John, the fifth Earl of Exeter.
[109] Both the gold and silver coin were at this time much depreciated;
and remained in a fluctuating state till a new coinage took place.
[110] From inspecting the plates of Dryden’s Virgil, it appears, that
the Earl of Derby had one inscribed to him, as had Lord Chesterfield.
But this wrathful letter made no farther impression on the mercantile
obstinacy of Tonson; and neither the Duke of Devonshire, Lord Petre,
nor Lady Macclesfield, obtained the place among the first subscribers,
which Dryden so peremptorily demands for them.
[111] This seems to be a bitter gibe at Jacob’s parsimony.
[112] Perhaps the proposals for the second subscription. See Letter xi.
[113] “The Husband his own Cuckold,” written by our author’s second
son, John, and published in July 1696.
[114] Tonson’s answer to the foregoing letter, seems to have been
pacific and apologetical, yet peremptory as to his terms.
[115] Richard Bentley, a bookseller and printer, who lived in Russel
Street, Covent Garden.
[116] A banker or goldsmith, afterwards notorious for his share in the
South Sea scheme, to which Company he was cashier.
[117] Sir Robert Howard had been appointed auditor of the Exchequer in
1673, and held that office till his death.
[118] The celebrated watchmaker, who was originally a jacksmith. MALONE.
[119] They were at this time at Rome.
[120] The Eclogues of Virgil had been published in the first
Miscellany. Dryden probably corrected them with a pen in Lady
Elizabeth’s copy of the printed book, and sent it to the bookseller, as
what is technically called _copy_.
[121] This person, in the last age, was frequently called “the learned
tradesman.” “Sir Andrew Fountaine (says Swift, in his _Journal_,
October 6, 1710,) came this morning, and caught me writing in bed. I
went into the city with him, and we dined at the Chop-house, with Will
Pate, _the learned woollen-draper_; then we sauntered at china shops
and booksellers; went to the tavern, and drank two pints of white
wine,” &c. Mr William Pate was educated at Trinity Hall in Cambridge,
where he took the degree of B.C.L. He died in 1746, and was buried at
Lee, in Kent.
Mr Malone, who mentions these particulars, transcribes Mr Pate’s
epitaph, the moral of which is:--
_Nervos atque artus esse sapientiœ,
NON TEMERE CREDERE._
It would seem, from Dryden’s letter, that this learned tradesman
understood the mercantile, as well as the literary use of the apothegm.
[122] A Roman Catholic.
[123] At Denham Court, in Buckinghamshire. Sir William Bowyer married a
kinswoman of Lady Elizabeth Dryden; Frances, daughter of Charles, Lord
Cranbourne, eldest son of William, the second Earl of Salisbury. MALONE.
[124] This seems to imply a suspicion, though an odd one, that Jacob,
being bent to convert Dryden to his own views of politics, intercepted
his sons’ letters from Rome, as proceeding from an interest hostile to
his views. (See p. 140.) His earnest wish was, that the Æneid should be
inscribed to King William.
[125] The translation of Virgil.
[126] In MS. Harl. p. 35, in the Museum, are the following verses,
occasioned by this circumstance:
“To be published in the next edition of Dryden’s Virgil.
“Old Jacob, by deep judgment swayed,
To please the wise beholders,
Has placed old Nassau’s book-nosed head
On poor Æneas’ shoulders,
“To make the parallel hold tack,
Methinks there’s little lacking;
One took his father pick-a-pack,
And t’other sent his packing.”
In a copy I have seen of this epigram, “poor” Æneas is improved into
“young” Æneas.”
[127] This Dryden never effected, nor was Howard’s play ever printed.
[128] Probably the clergy of England.
[129] This probably alludes to the proposition which appears to
have been made to him, concerning the dedication of his Virgil to
King William; for which a valuable pecuniary reward might have been
expected. MALONE.
[130] The peace of Ryswick, which was proclaimed at London in the
following month, October 19, 1697, O. S.
[131] She _means_, I suppose,--by the same way her son’s letter came to
her.
[132] To account for the difference between the exquisite orthography
of Lady Elizabeth’s present epistle, and that to Dr Busby, Mr Malone
suggests, that Dryden probably revised the latter before it was sent.
[133] Tom Brown had, in the year of the Revolution, published “The
Reasons of Mr Bayes changing his Religion;” and in 1690, a second Part,
called the “Late Converts Exposed.” What this small wit now had in hand
is difficult to guess; none of his direct attacks against Dryden appear
in his works: but his insignificant enmity survived Dryden, for he
wrote a burlesque account of the poet’s funeral in verse, and libelled
his memory in prose, in his “Letters from the Dead to the Living.”
[134] This labour he never resumed.
[135] The Rev. Dr Knightly Chetwood, an intimate friend of our author.
[136] Mary Leigh, the wife of Sir George Chudleigh of Ashton, in the
same county, Bart. She died in the year 1710. Her life is among those
of Ballard’s “Learned Ladies.” The verses mentioned in the text are not
prefixed to the “Virgil,” but printed in Lady Chudleigh’s Poems.
[137] The preface to the “Pastorals.”
[138] The “Ode for St Cecilia’s Day.” It is pleasing to be assured,
that the best of English lyrics was received with due honour on its
first appearance.
[139] Our author only translated the First Book. See Vol. XII. p. 231.
[140] His son Charles had probably been much hurt by a dangerous fall
at Rome; probably that mentioned by Mrs Thomas, in her exaggerated
account of his accident at the Vatican. In a former letter, his mother
enquires particularly about his _head_.
[141] Probably the Genoese resident at that time.
[142] See page 132.
[143] Of Mrs Steward Mr Malone gives the following account:--
“Thislady, who was not less distinguished for her talents and
accomplishments than her beauty and virtues, having been both a painter
and a poetess, was the eldest surviving daughter of John Creed of
Oundle, Esq (secretary to Charles II. for the affairs of Tangier,)
by Elizabeth Pickering, his wife, who was the only daughter of Sir
Gilbert Pickering, Baronet, our author’s cousin-german. Her eldest son,
Richard Creed, as we have seen, fell in the battle of Blenheim, and
was honoured with a monument in Westminster Abbey. Her eldest daughter
Elizabeth, was born in the year 1672, and, in 1692, married Elmes
Steward of Cotterstock, in the county of Northampton, Esq.; where they
principally resided. By this gentleman, who is said to have preferred
field-sports to any productions of the Muses, she had three children;
Elizabeth, who became the wife of Thomas Gwillim, Esq. of Old Court, in
the parish of Whitchurch, near Ross in Herefordshire; Anne, who died
unmarried; and Jemima, who married Elmes Spinckes of Aldwinckle, Esq.
Mrs Steward, who survived her husband above thirty years, in the latter
part of her life became blind, in which melancholy state she died at
the house of her son-in-law Mr Gwillim, at the age of seventy-one, Jan.
17, 1742-3; and a monument was erected to her memory in the church of
Whitchurch. The hall of Cotterstock-house was painted in fresco by her,
in a very masterly style, and she drew several portraits of her friends
in Northamptonshire. Her own portrait, painted by herself, is in the
possession of her kinswoman, Mrs Orel of Queen Anne Street.”
[144] See Vol. XI. p. 71.
[145] His eldest son Charles, who returned from Italy to England about
the middle of the year 1698.
[146] Mrs Steward’s father, Mr John Creed.
[147] Miss, or, in the language of that day, _Mistress_ Dorothy Creed,
second daughter of John Creed, Esq.
[148] At Tichmarsh, after his return from Cotterstock.
[149] See Vol. IX. p. 23. note XVIII. Our author commemorated this
circumstance in his “Elegy on the Protector:”--
----The isle when her protecting genius went,
Upon his obsequies loud sighs conferred.
[150] Driden, of Chesterton, who, as appears from our author’s Epistle
addressed to him, was a keen sportsman.
[151] Probably Bevil Driden.
[152] This severe proclamation appeared in the London Gazette, No.
3476, Monday, March 6, 1698-9. It enjoined all Popish recusants to
remove to their respective places of abode; or if they had none, to the
dwellings of their fathers or mothers; and not to remove five miles
from thence: and it charged the lord mayor of London, and all other
justices of peace, to put the statute 1st William and Mary, c.9. for
amoving Papists ten miles from London and Westminster, into execution,
by tendering them the declaration therein mentioned; and also another
act of William and Mary, for disarming Papists.
[153] Dr Thomas Tennison, who succeeded to the see of Canterbury in
1694, on the death of Tillotson. He is thus sarcastically described by
William Shippen, in “Faction Displayed,” a poem written a few years
afterwards:
“A pause ensued, till Patriarcho’s grace
Was pleased to rear his huge unwieldy mass;
A mass unanimated with a soul,
Or else he’d ne’er be made so vile a tool:
He’d ne’er his apostolic charge profane,
And atheists’ and fanaticks’ cause maintain.
At length, as from the hollow of an oak,
The bulky Primate yawned, and silence broke:
I much approve,” &c.
So also Edmund Smith, in his elegant ode, _Charlettus Percivallo suo_;
“_Scribe securus, quid agit Senatus_,
Quid caput stertit grave Lambethanum,
_Quid comes Guilford, quid habent novorum_
_Dawksque Dyerque_.”--MALONE.
[154] The London Gazette, No. 3474, Monday, Feb. 27, 1698-9, contains
the order alluded to:
“His majesty has been pleased to command, that the following order
should be sent to both Playhouses:
“His majesty being informed, that, notwithstanding an order made the
4th of June, 1697, by the Earl of Sunderland, then lord chamberlain of
his majesty’s houshold, to prevent the profaneness and immorality of
the stage, several plays have lately been acted, containing expressions
contrary to religion and good manners: And whereas the master of the
revels has represented, that, in contempt of the said order, the actors
do often neglect to leave out such profane and indecent expressions as
he has thought proper to be omitted: These are therefore to signify his
majesties pleasure, that you do not hereafter presume to act any thing
in any play, contrary to religion and good manners, as you shall answer
it at your utmost peril. Given under my hand this 18th of February,
1698, in the eleventh year of his majesties reign.
“PERE. BERTIE.
“An order has been likewise sent by his majesties command, to the
master of the revels, not to licence any plays containing expressions
contrary to religion and good manners; and to give notice to the lord
chamberlain of his majesties houshold, or, in his absence, to the
vice-chamberlain, if the players presume to act any thing which he has
struck out.”
[155] The beautiful Fables.
[156] Dorothy and Jemima Creed; the latter of whom died Feb. 23,
1705-6, and was buried at Tichmarsh.
[157] The founder of the Pepysian library, Magdalen College, Cambridge.
He was secretary to the Admiralty in the reign of Charles II. and
James II. “He first (says Granger, _Biogr. Hist._ iv. 322.) reduced
the affairs of the Admiralty to order and method; and that method
was so just, as to have been a standing model to his successors in
that important office. His ‘Memoirs’ relating to the Navy is a well
written piece; and his copious collection of manuscripts, now remaining
with the rest of his library at Magdalen College in Cambridge, is an
invaluable treasure of naval knowledge. He was far from being a mere
man of business: his conversation and address had been greatly refined
by travel. He thoroughly understood and practised music; was a judge of
painting, sculpture, and architecture; and had more than a superficial
knowledge in history and philosophy. His fame among the Virtuosi was
such, that he was thought to be a very proper person to be placed at
the head of the Royal Society, of which he was some time [1685, 1686,]
president. His Prints have been already mentioned. His collection of
English Ballads, in five large folio volumes, begun by Mr Selden, and
carried down to 1700, is one of his singular curiosities.--_Ob_. 26
May, 1703.”
[158] To _smicker_, though omitted by Dr Johnson, is found, says Mr
Malone, in Kersey’s Dictionary, 1708; where it is interpreted--“To look
amorously, or wantonly.”
[159] Christopher Codrington, governor of the Caribbee Islands.
[160] Colonel John Creed, a gallant soldier. He died at Oundle, Nov.
21, 1751, aged 73, and was buried in the church of Tichmarsh.
[161] The superscription of this letter is wanting; but that it was
addressed to Mr Montague, is ascertained by the words--“From Mr
Dryden,” being indorsed on it, in that gentleman’s handwriting. Charles
Montague, (afterwards Earl of Halifax,) was at this time First Lord
of the Treasury, and Chancellor of the Exchequer; the latter of which
offices he had held from the year 1694.--The date is supplied by the
subsequent letter. MALONE.
[162] The verses addressed to his kinsman, John Driden, of Chesterton,
Esq.--The former poem which had been submitted to Mr Montague, was that
addressed, to Mary, Duchess of Ormond. They were both inserted in the
volume of Fables, which was then printing. See the next letter.--MALONE.
[163] The lines alluded to occur in the Epistle to Driden of
Chesterton, (Vol. XI. p. 81.) They are very cautiously worded; yet
obviously imply, that opposition to government was one quality of
a good patriot. Dryden, sensible of the suspicion arising from his
politics and religion, seems, in this letter, to deprecate Montague’s
displeasure, and to prepossess him in favour of the poem, as
inoffensive toward the government. I am afraid, that indemnity was all
he had to hope for from the protection of this famed Mæcenas; at least,
he returns no thanks for benefits hitherto received; and of these he
was no niggard where there was room for them. Pope’s bitter verses on
Halifax are well known:
“Dryden alone what wonder came not nigh,
Dryden alone escaped his judging eye;
Yet still the great have kindness in reserve,
He helped to bury, whom he helped to starve.”
[164] Dryden probably alludes to some expectations through the interest
of Halifax, They were never realised; whether from inattention, or on
account of his politics and religion, cannot now be known.
[165] Charles Hopkins, son of Hopkins, Bishop of Derry, in Ireland.
He was educated at Cambridge, and became Bachelor of Arts in 1688; he
afterwards bore arms for King William in the Irish wars. In 1694, he
published a collection of epistolary poems and translations; and in
1695, “The History of Love,” which last gained him some reputation.
Dorset honoured Hopkins with his notice; and Dryden himself is said
to have distinguished him from the undergrowth of authors. He was
careless both of his health and reputation, and fell a martyr to excess
in 1700, aged only thirty-six years. Hopkins wrote three plays, 1.
“Pyrrhus, King of Epirus,” 1695; 2. “Boadicea, Queen of Britain,” 1697;
3. “Friendship Improved.” This last is mentioned in the text as to be
acted on 7th November.
[166] The fate of the Scottish colony at Darien, accelerated by the
inhuman proclamations of William, who prohibited his American subjects
to afford them assistance, was now nearly decided, and the nation was
almost frantic between rage and disappointment. “The most inflammatory
publications had been dispersed among the nation, the most violent
addresses were presented from the towns and counties, and whosoever
ventured to dispute or doubt the utility of Darien, was reputed a
public enemy devoted to a hostile and corrupt court.”--_Laing’s
History_, book x.
[167] Mr John Driden of Chesterton, member for the county of Huntingdon.
[168] Mrs Steward’s father, Mr John Creed, of Oundle.
[169] Mrs Thomas, “Curll’s Corinna,” well known as a hack authoress
some years after this period, was now commencing her career. She
was daughter of Emanuel Thomas, of the Inner Temple, barrister. Her
person, as well as her writings, seems to have been dedicated to the
service of the public. The story of her having obtained a parcel of
Pope’s letters, written in youth, from Henry Cromwell, to whom they
were addressed, and selling them to Curll the bookseller, is well
known. In that celebrated collection, 2d Vol. 8vo. 1735, the following
letters from Dryden also appear. It would seem Corinna had contrived
to hook an acquaintance upon the good-natured poet, by the old pretext
of sending him two poems for his opinion. She afterwards kept up
some communication with his family, which she made the ground of two
marvellous stories, one concerning the astrological predictions of the
poet, the other respecting the mode of his funeral.
[170] “A Pastoral Elegy to the Memory of the Hon. Cecilia Bew,”
published afterwards in the Poems of Mrs Thomas, 8vo. 1727.
[171] Mrs Catharine Philips, a poetess of the last age. See Vol. XI, p.
111.
[172] She lived with her mother, Mrs Elizabeth Thomas, (as we learn
from Curll,) in Dyot-street, St Giles’s; but in the first edition of
the letter, for the greater honour, she represents it as addressed to
herself at Great Russell-street, Bloomsbury.
[173] In this lively romance, written to ridicule the doctrines of
Rosicrucian philosophy, we are informed, that the Nymphs of water, air,
earth, and fire, are anxious to connect themselves with the sages of
the human race. I remember nothing about their wish to be baptized; but
that desire was extremely strong among the fays, or female genii, of
the North, who were anxious to demand it for the children they had by
human fathers, as the means of securing to them that immortality which
they themselves wanted. Einar Godmund, an ancient priest, informed
the learned Torfæus, that they often solicited this favour, (usually
in vain,) and were exceedingly incensed at the refusal. He gave an
instance of Siward Fostre, who had promised to one of these fays, that
if she bore him a child, he would cause it to be christened. In due
time she appeared, and laid the child on the wall of the church-yard,
with a chalice of gold and a rich cope, as an offering at the
ceremony. But Siward, ashamed of his extraordinary intrigue, refused
to acknowledge the child, which, therefore, remained unbaptized. The
incensed mother re-appeared and carried off the infant and the chalice,
leaving behind the cope, fragments of which were still preserved. But
she failed not to inflict upon Siward and his descendants, to the ninth
generation, a peculiar disorder, with which they were long afflicted.
Other stories to the same purpose are told by Torfæus in his preface
to the “History of Hrolf Kraka,” 12mo. 1715. I suppose, however, that
Dryden only recollected the practice of magicians, who, on invoking
astral spirits, and binding them to their service, usually imposed on
them some distinguishing name. It is possible Paracelsus says something
to the purpose in his Magna Philosophia.
[174] In printing this letter, Mr Malone says, he “followed a
transcript which he made some years ago from the original. It is
preserved in a small volume in the Bodleian Library, consisting chiefly
of Pope’s original Letters to Henry Cromwell, which Mrs Thomas sold to
Curll, the bookseller, who published them unfaithfully. It afterwards
fell into the hands of Dr Richard Rawlinson, by whom it was bequeathed
to that Library.”
[175] Afra Behn, whose plays, poems, and novels, are very indecent;
yet an aged lady, a relation of the editor, assured him, that, in the
polite society of her youth, in which she held a distinguished place,
these books were accounted proper reading; and added, with some humour,
it was not till after a long interval, when she looked into them, at
the age of seventy, that she was shocked at their indecorum.
[176] The Pastoral Elegy on Mrs Bew, and the Triple League.
[177] Colonel Codrington wrote an epilogue to Dennis’ “Iphigenia.”
Dryden here talks rather slightingly of his acquaintance; but
“Iphigenia” is a most miserable piece.
[178] Mary, the daughter of Henry Mordaunt, the second Earl of
Peterborough, and wife of Thomas, the seventh Duke of Norfolk,
afterwards divorced for criminal conversation with Sir John Germaine.
See the Proceedings in the _State Trials_.
[179] The Right Hon. Charles Montague.
[180] He was about a year after created Lord Halifax.
[181] Lord Somers.--Mr Malone is of opinion, that this passage adds
some support to what has been suggested in our author’s Life, that
a part of Dryden’s “Satire to his Muse” was written in his younger
days by this great man. Yet I cannot think, that great man would be
concerned in so libellous a piece: and in the same breath Dryden tells
us, that he hoped Montague, who had really written against him, was
much his friend.
[182] Erasmus Dryden, who lived in King’s-street, Westminster, and was
a grocer. In Dec. 1710, he succeeded to the title of Baronet.
[183] Jemima, Mrs Steward’s youngest daughter, probably then four or
five years old.
[184] “Fables Ancient and Modern.”
[185] Elmes Steward, Esq., was appointed sheriff of the county of
Northampton in Nov. 1699.
[186] Dennis’s “Iphigenia” was performed at the theatre in Little
Lincoln’s Fields; and “Achilles, or Iphigenia in Aulis,” written
by Abel Boyer, and, if we are to believe the author, corrected by
Dryden, was acted at the theatre in Drury-Lane. Dennis says in his
Preface, that the success of his play was “neither despicable, nor
extraordinary;” but Gildon, in his “Comparison between the two Stages,”
8vo, 1702, informs us, that it was acted but six times; and that the
other tragedy, after four representations, was laid aside. MALONE.
[187] In the London Gazette, No. 3557, Thursday, December 14, 1699,
it is mentioned, that a proclamation for preventing and _punishing_
immorality and profaneness, had been issued out on the 11th instant.
We know, by the experience of our own time, the justice of Dryden’s
observation.
[188] Not at St James’ Church, but at the Chapel Royal. The pews, it
seems, were raised to prevent the devotions of the maids of honour
from any distractions in time of service. But the ballad maliciously
supposes, that the intention was to confine the sun-beams of their eyes
to the preacher, Bishop Burnet. The ballad itself may be found Vol. X.
p. 270.
[189] This poem is a banter upon the interest which the nobility took
in the disputes between the Dury-Lane theatre, where Skipwith was
manager, and that in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, of which Betterton was
sovereign. The “Island Princess” of Fletcher had been converted into
a sort of opera, by Peter Motteux, and acted at Drury-Lane in 1699.
The peculiar taste of Rich for every thing that respected show and
machinery is well known.
The CONFEDERATES, or the First Happy Day of the ISLAND PRINCESS.
Ye vile traducers of the female kind,
Who think the fair to cruelty inclined,
Recant your error, and with shame confess
Their tender care of Skipwith[190] in distress:
For now to vindicate this monarch’s right,
The Scotch and English equal charms unite;
In solemn leagues contending nations join,
And Britain labours with the vast design.
An opera with loud applause is played,
Which famed Motteux in soft heroics made;
And all the sworn Confederates resort,
To view the triumph of their sovereign’s court.
In bright array the well-trained host appears;
Supreme command brave Derwentwater[191] bears;
And next in front George Howard’s bride[192] does shine,
The living honour of that ancient line.
The wings are led by chiefs of matchless worth;
Great Hamilton,[193] the glory of the North,
Commands the left; and England’s dear delight,
The bold Fitzwalter[194] charges on the right.
The Prince, to welcome his propitious friends,
A throne erected on the stage ascends.
He said:--Blest angels! for great ends designed,
The best, and sure the fairest, of your kind,
How shall I praise, or in what numbers sing
Your just compassion of an injured king?
Till you appeared, no prospect did remain,
My crown and falling sceptre to maintain;
No noisy beaus in all my realm were found;
No beauteous nymphs my empty boxes crowned:
But still I saw, O dire heart-breaking woe!
My own sad consort[195] in the foremost row.
But this auspicious day new empire gives;
And if by your support my nation lives,
For you my bards shall tune the sweetest lays,
Norton[196] and Henley[197] shall resound your praise;
And I, not last of the harmonious train,
Will give a loose to my poetic vein.
To him great Derwentwater thus replied:--
Thou mighty prince, in many dangers tried,
Born to dispute severe decrees of fate,
The nursing-father of a sickly state;
Behold the pillars of thy lawful reign!
Thy regal rights we promise to maintain:
Our brightest nymphs shall thy dominions grace,
With all the beauties of the Highland race;
The beaus shall make thee their peculiar care,
For beaus will always wait upon the fair:
For thee kind Beereton and bold Webbe shall fight,[198]
Lord Scott[199] shall ogle, and my spouse shall write:[200]
Thus shall thy court our English youth engross,
And all the Scotch, from Drummond down to Ross.
Now in his throne the king securely sat;
But O! this change alarmed the rival state;
Besides he lately bribed, in breach of laws,
The fair deserter of her uncle’s cause.
This roused the monarch of the neighbouring crown,
A drowsy prince, too careless of renown.[201]
Yet prompt to vengeance, and untaught to yield,
Great Scarsdale[202] challenged Skipwith to the field.
Whole shoals of poets for this chief declare,
And vassal players attend him to the war.
Skipwith with joy the dreadful summons took,
And brought an equal force; then Scarsdale spoke;--
Thou bane of empire, foe to human kind,
Whom neither leagues nor laws of nations bind;
For cares of high poetic sway unfit,
Thou shame of learning, and reproach of wit;
Restore bright Helen to my longing sight,
Or now my signal shall begin the fight.--
Hold, said the foe, thy warlike host remove,
Nor let our bards the chance of battle prove:
Should death deprive us of their shining parts,
What would become of all the liberal arts?
Should Dennis fall, whose high majestic wit,
And awful judgment, like two tallies, fit,
Adieu, strong odes, and every lofty strain,
The tragic rant, and proud Pindaric vein.
Should tuneful D’Urfey now resign his breath,
The lyric Muse would scarce survive his death;
But should divine Motteux untimely die,
The gasping Nine would in convulsions lie:
For these bold champions safer arms provide,
And let their pens the double strife decide.
The king consents; and urged by public good,
Wisely retreats to save his people’s blood:
The moving legions leave the dusty plain,
And safe at home poetic wars maintain.
[190] Sir Thomas Skipwith, joint patentee and manager with Charles Rich
of the Drury-Lane theatre.
[191] Mary Tudor, natural daughter of Charles the Second, and lady of
Lord Ratcliff, (now Earl of Derwentwater,) to whom Dryden dedicated his
Third Miscellany. See Vol. XII. p. 47.
[192] Arabella, daughter of Sir Edward Allen, Bart. She first married
Francis Thompson, Esq. and was at this time the wife of Lord George
Howard, (eldest son of Henry, the sixth duke of Norfolk, by his second
wife,) who died in March 1720-21. MALONE.
[193] Elizabeth, daughter of Digby, Lord Gerard, and second wife of
James, Duke of Hamilton, who was killed in a duel by Lord Mohun, in
November 1712. MALONE.
[194] Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Bertie of Uffington, in the county
of Lincoln, Esq. a younger son of Montague, the second earl of Lindsey.
She was at this time the wife of Charles Mildmay, the second Lord
Fitzwalter of that family. MALONE.
[195] Margaret, daughter of George, Lord Chandos, and relict of William
Brownlow of Humby, in Lincolnshire.
[196] Richard Norton of Southwick, in Hampshire, Esq. Cibber’s comedy,
entitled, “Love’s last Shift,” was dedicated to this gentleman, in
February 1696-7. Mr Norton died December 10, 1732, in his sixty-ninth
year.
[197] Anthony Henley, of the Grange, in Hampshire, Esq., a man of parts
and learning, and a correspondent of Swift, who died in 1711.
[198] Perhaps General Webbe, whose “firm platoon” was afterwards
celebrated by Tickell. Of the prowess of Mr Beereton no memorials have
been discovered. MALONE.
[199] Lord Henry Scott, second surviving son of James, Duke of
Monmouth, who was born in 1676. In 1706 he was created Earl of
Deloraine; and died about 1730.
[200] The Earl of Derwentwater’s poetry, which, according to Dryden,
was none of the best.
[201] The famous Betterton, who, in 1695, again divided the two
companies, and headed that in Lincoln’s Inn Fields.
[202] Robert, third Earl of Scarsdale, a protector of Betterton’s
company.
[203] Alluding to the statutes imposing the oath of allegiance and
supremacy on all Catholics, under the penalty of incapacity to hold
landed property. 11 and 12 William III. cap. 4.
[204] The excellent comedy entitled the “Way of the World.” It had
cost Congreve much pains, and he was so much disgusted with the cold
reception alluded to in the text, that he never again wrote for the
stage.
[205] His Fables.
[206] King William had made large grants of land out of the forfeited
estates in Ireland, to his foreign servants, Portland, Albemarle,
Rochford, Galway, and Athlone, and to his favourite, Lady Orkney. The
Commons, who now watched every step of their deliverer with bitter
jealousy, appointed a commission to enquire into the value of these
grants; and followed it with a bill for resuming and applying them to
the payment of public debt; “and; in order to prevent the bill from
being defeated in the House of Lords, they, by a form seldom used, and
which very seldom should be used, tacked it to their bill of supply;
so that the Lords could not refuse the one, without disappointing the
other. The Lords, to secure themselves from that insignificancy, to
which the form of the bill tended to reduce them, disputed, in some
conferences with the Commons, the form of it with warmth; but the
resumption which it contained with indifference. And in both Houses,
even the servants of the Crown gave themselves little trouble to defeat
it; partly to gain popularity, but more from national antipathy to
foreigners, and envy at gifts in which themselves were no sharers.
The King, making allowances for national weaknesses, and for those
of human nature, passed the bill without any complaint in public,
but with a generous indignation in private, which perhaps made the
blow fall more heavy on his friends, when, in order to soften it, he
said to them, that it was for his sake, and not for their own, they
were suffering,”--_Dalrymple’s Annals._ William felt so deeply the
unkindness offered to him, that he prorogued the Parliament without the
usual ceremony of a speech from the throne.
[207] Mr Steward.
[208] More commonly called Vanbrugh. In Dryden’s age, the spelling of
proper names was not punctiliously adhered to.
[209] Dryden died on the 1st of May, and this letter was written on the
11th of the preceding month. The prologue and epilogue were therefore
composed within less than a month of his death.
[210] The Hall of the College of Physicians.
[211] Mr Malone doubts his being Doctor.
[212] Thomas.
[213] Sir Richard Philipps, according to Collins.
[214] Sir Edward Hartop, says Collins.
[215] Susanna, the wife of Sir John Pickering, according to Collins,
was the eldest daughter of Sir Erasmus Driden.
[216] Erasmus Driden, the poet’s father, was the writer’s great uncle.
All these corrections are made by Mr Malone.
[217] _Ego sum Preceptor Amoris._ ART. AM. Lib.
[218] His Ode on St Cecilia’s Day, entitled, Alexander’s Feast, or the
Power of Music.
[219] Mrs Philips.
[220] Mrs Behn.
[Transcriber's Note:
Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.]