gentleman's house on Lambeth side the water; where he had diverted
himself a summer or two before: Here he enjoyed his lov'd tranquility,
with a friend, a bottle, and his books; he frequently visited lord
Clarendon, at Somerset-house, as long as he was able. It was the autumn
season, and the Dr. began insensibly to droop: He shut himself up
entirely from his nearest friends, and would not so much as see lord
Clarendon; who hearing of his weak condition, ordered his sister to go
to Lambeth, and fetch him from thence to a lodging he had provided for
him, in the Strand, over against Somerset-house where next day
about noon he expired, with all the patience, and resignation of a
philosopher, and the true devotion of a christian; but would not be
persuaded to go to rest the night before, till he made such a will, as
he thought would be agreeable to lord Clarendon's inclinations; who
after his death took care of his funeral. He was decently interred in
the cloisters of Westminster-Abbey, next to his master Dr. Knipe, to
whom a little before, he dedicated his Heathen Gods.----The gentleman
already mentioned, who has transmitted some account of our author to
posterity, delineates his character in the following manner. 'He was
a civilian, exquisitely well read; a skillful judge, and among the
learned, an universal scholar, a critic, and an adept; in all sciences
and languages expert; and our English. Ovid, among the poets: In
conversation, he was grave and entertaining, without levity or spleen:
As an author, his character may be also summ'd up in the following
lines.'
Read here, in softest sounds the sweetest satire,
A pen dipt deep in gall, a heart good-nature;
An English Ovid, from his birth he seems,
Inspired alike with strong poetic dreams;
The Roman, rants of heroes, gods, and Jove,
The Briton, purely paints the art of love.
As a specimen of our author's versification, we shall select a Poem of
his called, the Art of making Puddings; published in his Miscellanies.
I sing of food, by British nurse design'd,
To make the stripling brave, and maiden kind.
Delay not muse in numbers to rehearse
The pleasures of our life, and sinews of our verse.
Let pudding's dish, most wholsome, be thy theme,
And dip thy swelling plumes in fragrant cream.
Sing then that dim so fitting to improve
A tender modesty, and trembling love;
Swimming in butter of a golden hue,
Garnish'd with drops of Rose's spicy dew.
Sometimes the frugal matron seems in haste,
Nor cares to beat her pudding into paste:
Yet milk in proper skillet she will place,
And gently spice it with a blade of mace;
Then set some careful damsel to look to't;
And still to stir away the bishop's-foot;
For if burnt milk shou'd to the bottom stick,
Like over-heated-zeal, 'twould make folks sick.
Into the Milk her flow'r she gently throws,
As valets now wou'd powder tender beaus:
The liquid forms in hasty mass unite,
Both equally delicious as they're white.
In mining dish the hasty mass is thrown,
And seems to want no graces but its own.
Yet still the housewife brings in fresh supplies,
To gratify the taste, and please the eyes.
She on the surface lumps of butter lays,
Which, melting with the heat, its beams displays;
From whence it causes wonder to behold
A silver soil bedeck'd with streams of gold!
[Footnote 1: The design of this work, was to ridicule Sir Hans Sloan's
writings, in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal-Society; of
which Dr. Sloan was secretary. This work, of Dr. King's, which is now
become very scarce, is one of the severest and merriest Satires that
ever was written in Prose.]
* * * * *
THOMAS SPRAT (Bishop of ROCHESTER)
Was descended from a very worthy, though obscure family, being the son
of a private country minister; but his great merit raised him to that
eminent station in the church, wherein he long presided, and was
deservedly accounted one of the most considerable prelates of his time.
The Oxford antiquary informs us, that on the 16th of January 1654, he
was entered in Wadham-College, where he pursued his studies with the
closest application, and distinguished himself by his prudent and
courteous behaviour.
On the 3d of July 1669, Mr. Sprat took his master of arts degree, and
the same day, commenced doctor in divinity. He had not long been in
holy orders, till he was introduced at court, and by a happy power in
conversation, so attracted the regard of Charles the IId. that he was
considered as a man standing fair for preferment. In 1683, broke out the
Rye-house Plot, a relation of the particulars of which, Charles the IId.
commanded Dr. Sprat to draw up. This the Dr. in a letter to lord Dorset,
informs us, he did with great unwillingness, and would have been
impelled by no other consideration, than that of a royal command. The
reason he executed these orders with so much reluctance, was, because
many of the most popular men in the nation were either concerned
themselves, or had some relations engaged, so that an account of a plot
thus supported, must expose he writer to partial or popular resentments.
He requested the king, that he might be permitted to spare some names,
and to represent the behaviour of others in as candid a light as
possible, in which request his majesty indulged him; but notwithstanding
all the candour he observed, and the most dispassionate representation
of facts, yet his composing this relation, was brought against him as a
crime, for which an opposite party endeavoured, and had almost effected
his ruin. This work, tho' finished in the year 1683 was not published
till 1685, when it came into the world, under the immediate direction
of king James the IId. It was no doubt in consequence of this court
service, that he was made dean of Westminster, Anno 1683; and bishop of
Rochester the year following. Another step he took in the short reign of
king James, likewise exposed him to the resentment of that power
which took place at the revolution, which was his sitting in the
ecclesiastical commission. By this he drew upon himself almost an
universal censure, which he acknowledges to be just; as appears by a
letter he wrote upon that occasion to the earl of Dorset, in the year
1689; which thus begins.
'My Lord,
I think I should be wanting to myself at this time, in my own necessary
vindication, should I forbear any longer to give my friends a true
account of my behaviour in the late ecclesiastical commission. Though I
profess what I now say, I only intend as a reasonable mitigation of the
offence I have given, not entirely to justify my sitting in that court;
for which I acknowledge I have deservedly incurred the censure of many
good men; and I wish I may ever be able to make a sufficient amends to
my country for it.'
His crime in this particular was somewhat alleviated, by his renouncing
the commission, when he perceived the illegal practices they were going
to put in execution. His offences were strenuously urged against him,
and had not the earl of Dorset warmly espoused his interest, he had
probably been stript of his ecclesiastical preferments. His lordship
charged the ill-conduct of both these affairs upon king James and his
ministry; and thereby brought the bishop's opponents to a perfect
reconciliation with him.
Notwithstanding this accommodation, such was the inquietude of the
times, that his lordship had not long enjoyed this tranquility, before
there was hatched a most villainous contrivance; not only to take away
his life, but, the lives of archbishop Sancroft, lord Marlborough,
and several other persons of honour and distinction; by forging an
instrument under their hands, setting forth, that they had an intent
to restore king James, and to seize upon the person of the princess of
Orange, dead or alive; to surprize the tower, to raise a mighty army;
and to bring the city of London into subjection. This black conspiracy
to murther so many innocent persons, was by the providence of God soon
detested; and his lordship drew up, and published an account of it,
under this title, A Relation of the Wicked Contrivance of Stephen
Blackhead, and Robert Young, against the Lives of several Persons, by
forging an Association under their Hands. In two parts. The first being
a Relation of what passed at the three Examinations of his Lordship, by
a Committee of Lords of the Privy-Council. The second, being an Account
of the two Authors of the Forgery; printed in quarto, in the year 1692.
His lordship was honourably acquitted; and he ever after looked upon
this escape, as one of the most remarkable blessings of his life. 'In
such 'critical times (says he) how little evidence would have sufficed
to ruin any man, that had been accused with the least probability of
truth? I do therefore, most solemnly oblige myself, and all mine, to
keep the grateful remembrance of my deliverance, perpetual and sacred.'
Hitherto, we have considered Dr. Sprat in his episcopal, and public
character; in which if he fell into some errors, he has a right to our
candour, as they seem rather to have proceeded from misinformation, and
excess of good-nature, than any malevolent, or selfish principle: We
shall now take a view of him as an author.
His first appearance in that sphere, was in the year 1659, when in
concert with Mr. Waller, and Mr. Dryden, he printed a Pindarique Ode,
to the Memory of the most renowned Prince, Oliver, Lord Protector, &c.
printed in quarto, which he dedicated to the reverend Mr. Wilkin's, then
warden of Wadham-College; by whose approbation and request, it was made
public, as the author designed it only for a private amusement. This was
an unfavourable circumstance for our author, as it more particularly
shews the fickleness of his disposition in state-matters, and gave him
less credit with those parties he afterwards espoused.
His next production in poetry, was an Ode on the Plague of Athens; which
happened in the second year of the Pelopponesian war, first described
by Thucydides, afterwards by Lucretius: This Mr. Sprat dedicated to his
worthy and learned friend, Dr. Walter Pope. The performance stood the
test of the severest critics; and in the opinion of the best judges, the
manner of his great original was judiciously imitated. Soon after this,
he proceeded to give the public a specimen of his abilities in
another kind, and succeeded with the greatest applause; which was his
Observations on Monsieur de Serbiere's Voyage into England, written to
Dr. Wren, professor of astronomy in Oxford; printed in octavo, in the
year 1665.
Mr. Sprat in the beginning of his letter acquaints the Dr. with the
motives of his engaging with Monsieur Serbiere, 'Having now (says he)
under my hands, the history of the Royal-Society, it will be in vain for
me to try to represent its design to be advantageous to the glory of
England, if my countrymen shall know, that one who calls himself a
member of that society, has escaped unanswered in the public disgraces,
which he has cast on our whole nation.'--In this performance Mr. Sprat
has given an undeniable proof, that the strength and solidity of an
English pen, is infinitely superior to the gallant air of a French
author, who is sprightly without propriety, and positive without truth.
About two years after, 1667, our author published his incomparable
History of the Royal Society of London, for the improvement of natural
knowledge; a work which has acquired him very great reputation, and has
ranked him with the most elegant and polite writers of that age. Soon
after this, Mr. Sprat lost his amiable and much esteemed friend Mr.
Abraham Cowley, who by his will recommended to the care of his reverend
friend, the revising of all his works that were printed, and the
collecting of those papers which he had designed for the press. This
truth Mr. Sprat faithfully discharged, and to the new edition of Mr.
Cowley's Works, he prefixed an account of his life and writings,
addressed to Mr. Martin Clifford. Happy is it for a good man, when he
has such a friend to close his eyes: This is a desire peculiar to all,
and the portion of few to enjoy.
For who to dumb forgetfulness a prey,
This pleasing anxious being e'er resign'd;
Left the warm precincts of the chearful day,
Nor cast one longing lingring look behind.
On some warm breast the parting soul relies,
Some pious drops the closing eye requires;
E'en from the tomb, the voice of nature cries,
Awake! and faithful to her wonted fires[1].
This life of Cowley, by Dr. Sprat has been esteemed one of the most
elegant compositions in our language; there are several extracts from it
in our account of the life of that amiable Poet.
These are the most material performances of Dr. Sprat: a man, who was
early introduced into an elevated station in life, which he held not
without enemies to his dying moments. Villiers duke of Buckingham was
his first patron, who notwithstanding his fickleness, and inconsistent
levity, never forsook him; a circumstance which has induced many to
believe, that that nobleman owed much to the refinement of our author;
and that his Rehearsal had never been so excellent, nor so pungent a
satire, had it not first passed under Dr. Sprat's perusal.
This learned prelate died of an apoplexy, May the 20th, 1713, at his
episcopal feat in Bromly in Kent, in the 79th year of his age; and was
interred in the Abbey-Church of Westminster.
As he lived esteemed by all his acquaintance, as well as the clergy of
his diocese, so he died regretted by them, and indeed by all men of
taste; for it is the opinion of many, that he raised the English tongue
to that purity and beauty, which former writers were wholly strangers
to, and which those who have succeeded him, can but imitate[2].
The benevolence of our author is very conspicuous in his last will, in
favour of his widow and son; in which he commands them to extend that
beneficence to his poor relations, which they always found from him; and
not to suffer any of those to want, whose necessitous merit, had shared
in all the external advantages he possessed. As he may be proposed
(considered meerly as a writer) for an example worthy of imitation; so
in the character of a dignified clergyman, he has likewise a claim to
be copied in those retired and private virtues, in those acts of
beneficence and humility, and that unaffected and primitive piety, for
which he was justly distinguished.
[Footnote 1: Elegy in a Country Church-Yard, by Mr. Grey.]
[Footnote 2: Mr. Cooper, in his ingenious work entitled the Life of
Socrates, speaks in a very different strain of the bishop's History of
the Royal Society, which he calls a 'Fustian History!' and adds, that
'it was esteemed an excellent competition by the metaphor-hunting mob of
silly writings in Charles II's reign.']
* * * * *
CHARLES MONTAGUE (Earl of HALLIFAX)
Was born the 16th of April 1661, and received the rudiments of his
education at Westminster-school: From thence he was removed to
Trinity-College in Cambridge, where by the brightness of his parts he
was early distinguished; and coming to town soon after the death of king
Charles the IId. he contracted an intimacy with the earl of Dorset, Sir
Charles Sedley, and other wits of the age. After the accession of king
William and queen Mary, having attached himself to the revolution
interest, he was sworn one of the council: He served in parliament
for the cities of Durham, and Westminster, at different times, and
distinguished himself by his speeches in the House of Commons, on
several important affairs. He was constituted one of the lords
commissioners of the treasury, on the 21st of March 1691, and soon after
sworn of the privy-council. In 1694 he was made chancellor and under
treasurer of the exchequer.[1] In the year 1695, when the nation was
distress'd, by the ill-state of the current coin of this kingdom,
he projected the new coining of the silver money; and by his great
prudence, and indefatigable industry brought it to bear. He likewise
proposed the issuing exchequer bills, to supply the great scarcity of
money, which has since been made use of to the great benefit of the
nation. On the 16th of February, 1697.8, the House of Commons, came to a
resolution, 'That it is the opinion of this house, that the honourable
Charles Montague, Esq; chancellor of the exchequer, for his good
services to this government, does deserve his majesty's favour.' His
next concern, was the trade to the East-Indies; the settlement of which
had been long depending, and was looked on as so nice, and difficult,
that it had been referred to the king and council, and from them to the
parliament; who on May the 26th, 1698, ordered a bill for settling the
trade to that place: Mr. Montague transacted this whole affair; and by
his industry and skill, in touching the affections of the people, raised
two-millions, by only doubling the duties on paper, parchment, and salt;
which to have done by any other means, was at that time matter of the
utmost difficulty. These proofs of affection and zeal to his majesty's
person and government, induced the king to declare him first: lord
commissioner of the treasury; and on the 16th of July, 1698, appointed
him one of the persons to whose fidelity, and honour, he reposed the
trust of lords justices of England, for the administration of government
during his absence. In the year 1700 his lordship resigned the place of
first lord commissioner of the treasury, having obtained a grant of the
office of auditor of the receipts of the exchequer, vacant by the death
of Sir Robert Howard; and on the 4th of December, the same year, was
advanced to the dignity of baron Hallifax, in the county of York.
On the accession of queen Anne, he was concerned in vindicating the
memory of king William, and on all occasions shewed a disinterested zeal
in the service of his country. He first projected the equivalent, which
was given to the Scots, in order to promote the Union between the
nations; and without which it had never been effected. And as his
lordship first moved for appointing commissioners to treat of an Union
between the two kingdoms; so he had not only a great share in that
treaty, as one of the commissioners, but causing it to be ratified in
parliament, and answered, with all the force of which he was master,
the various objections made against it. And further, to strengthen the
interest of the Whigs, which he thought was essentially connected
with the protestant religion, his lordship proposed the bill for the
naturalization of the illustrious house of Hanover, and for the better
security of the succession of the crown in the protestant line; which
being pass'd into an act, her majesty made choice of him to carry the
news to our late sovereign; and to invest his son with the ensigns of
the most noble order of the Garter. On his arrival at Hanover, he was
received with extraordinary marks of distinction, and honour. During his
residence there, the prince-royal of Prussia was married to his present
majesty's sister; and soon aster that prince set out with his lordship
for the confederate army. Hallifax then went to the Hague, where he laid
the foundation of a stricter alliance between Great-Britain, and the
United Provinces: On his return to England he was graciously received by
the-queen, and continued in her favour till the change of the ministry,
in the year 1710.
On her majesty's death, our author was one of the regency nominated by
king George the Ist. till his arrival; who was no sooner possessed of
the crown, but he shewed him distinguishing marks of his favour, having
so strenuously promoted his succession to the British throne. He had his
majesty's leave to resign his poll of auditor of the exchequer, to his
nephew the honourable George Montague; and after being made first lord
commissioner of the Treasury, and sworn of the privy-council, he was
advanced to the dignity of earl of Hallifax, and viscount Sunbury, by
letters patent, bearing date the 26th of October, 1714; and before the
end of that year, was installed one of the knights companions of the
most noble order of the garter, and made lord lieutenant of the county
of Surry.
Lord Hallifax died in the 54th year of his age, on the 19th of May 1715,
and on the 26th of the same month, was interred in general Monk's vault
in Westminster-Abbey: leaving no issue, his titles devolved on his
nephew, George late earl of Hallifax.--Considered as a poet, his
lordship makes a less considerable figure than the earl of Dorset; there
is a languor in his verses, which seems to indicate that he was not born
with a poetical genius. That he was a lover of the muses, there is not
the lead doubt, as we find him patronizing the poets so warmly; but
there is some difference between a propensity to poetry, and a power of
excelling in it. His lordship has writ but few things, and those not of
the utmost consequence.
Among others are the following, printed in Tonsen's Minor Poets.
1. Verses On the death of Charles the IId.
2. An Ode on the Marriage of the Princess Anne, and Prince George of
Denmark.
3. The Man of Honour, occasioned by a Postscript to Penn's Letter.
4. An Epistle to Charles earl of Dorset; occasioned by King William's
Victory in Ireland.
5. Verses written for the toasting Glasses of the Kit-Cat-Club, 1703;
which consisted of persons of the first fashion, who were in the
interest of the house of Hanover. These Verses are by far the
compleatest of lord Hallifax's, and, indeed, genteel compliments to the
radiant beauties, who were the chief toasts amongst the Whigs. I shall
here present the reader with them.
DUCHESS of BEAUFORT.
Offspring of a tuneful fire,
Blest with more than mortal sire:
Likeness of a mother's face,
Blest with more than mortal grace:
You with double charms surprize,
With his wit, and with her eyes.
LADY MARY CHURCHILL.
Fairest, latest of the beauteous race,
Blest with your parents wit, and her first blooming
face;
Born with our liberties in William's reign,
Your eyes alone that liberty restrain.
DUCHESS of RICHMOND.
Of two fair Richmonds diff'rent ages boast,
Their's was the first, and our's the brighter
toast;
Th' adorers offspring prove who's most divine,
They sacrific'd in water, we in wine.
LADY SUNDERLAND.
All nature's charms in Sunderland appear,
Bright as her eyes, and as her reason clear;
Yet still their force, to men not safely known,
Seems undiscover'd to herself alone.
MADAMOISELLE SPANHEIME.
Admir'd in Germany, ador'd in France,
Your charms to brighter glory, here advance;
The stubborn Britons own your beauty's claim,
And with their native toasts enroll your name.
[Footnote 1: Collins's Peerage. See Article Hallifax.]
* * * * *
WILLIAM WYCHERLEY, Esq;
This Gentleman was son of Daniel Wycherley, of Cleve in Shropshire, Esq;
and was born (says Wood) in the year 1640.
When he was about fifteen years of age, he was sent to France, in the
western parts of which he resided upon the banks of the Charante; where
he was often admitted to the conversation of the most accomplished
ladies of the court of France, particularly madam de Montaufieur,
celebrated by mons. Voiture in his letters[1].
A little before the restoration of Charles the IId, he became a
gentleman commoner of queen's college in Oxford, and lived in the
provost's lodgings; and was entered in the public library, under the
title of philosophiæ studiosus, in July 1660. He quitted the university
without being matriculated, having, according to the Oxford antiquary,
been reconciled to the protestant religion, which he had renounced
during his travels, probably by the person of those gay ladies, with
whom he conversed in France. This circumstance shews how dangerous it
is to engage in a debate with a female antagonist, especially, if that
antagonist joins beauty with understanding.
Mr. Wycherley afterwards entered himself in the Middle-Temple; but
making his first appearance in town, in a reign when wit and gaiety were
the favourite distinctions, he relinguished the study of the law, and
engaged in pursuits more agreeable to his own genius, and the gallant
spirit of the times.