happy in the friendship of Mr. Pope, who addresses a copy of verses to
her, occasioned by eight lines in the Rape of the Lock: they contain a
very elegant compliment.
In vain you boast poetic names of yore,
And cite those Saphoes we admire no more:
Fate doom'd the fall of ev'ry female wit,
But doom'd it then, when first Ardelia writ.
Of all examples by the world confest,
I knew Ardelia could not quote the best,
Who like her mistress on Britannia's throne
Fights and subdues in quarrels not her own.
To write their praise, you but in vain essay;
E'en while you write, you take that praise away:
Light to the stars, the sun does thus restore,
And shines himself 'till they are seen no more.
The answer which the countess makes to the above, is rather more
exquisite than the lines of Mr. Pope; he is foil'd at his own weapons,
and outdone in the elegance of compliment.
Disarm'd with so genteel an air,
The contest I give o'er;
Yet Alexander have a care,
And shock the sex no more.
We rule the world our life's whole race,
Men but assume that right;
First slaves to ev'ry tempting face,
Then martyrs to our spite.
You of one Orpheus sure have read,
Who would like you have writ
Had he in London-town been bred,
And polish'd too his wit;
But he poor soul, thought all was well
And great should be his fame,
When he had left his wife in hell
And birds, and beasts could tame.
Yet venturing then with scoffing rhimes
The women to incense,
Resenting heroines of those times
Soon punished his offence.
And as the Hebrus roll'd his skull,
And Harp besmeared with blood,
They clashing as the waves grew full
Still harmoniz'd the flood.
But you our follies gently treat,
And spin so fine the thread,
You need not fear his awkward fate,
The lock won't cost the head.
Our admiration you command
For all that's gone before;
What next we look for at your hand
Can only raise it more.
Yet sooth the ladies, I advise
(As me too pride has wrought)
We're born to wit, but to be wise
By admonitions taught.
The other pieces of this lady are,
An Epilogue to Jane Shore, to be spoken by Mrs. Oldfield the night
before the Poet's day.
To the Countess of Hertford with her Volume of Poems.
The Prodigy, a Poem, written at Tunbridge-Wells 1706, on the Admiration
that many expressed on a Gentleman's being in love, and their Endeavours
to dissuade him from it, with some Advice to the young Ladies how
to maintain their natural Prerogative. If all her other poetical
compositions are executed with as much spirit and elegance as these, the
lovers of poetry have some reason to be sorry that her station was such,
as to exempt her from the necessity of more frequently exercising a
genius so furnished by nature, to have made a great figure in that
divine art.
* * * * *
CHARLES GILDON.
This gentleman was born at Gillingham near Shaftsbury, in the county of
Dorset. His parents, and family were all of the Romish persuasion, but
they could not instil their principles into our author, who, as soon as
he began to reason, was able to discover the errors, and foppery of
that church. His father was a member of the society of Grays-Inn, and
suffered much for the Royal cause. The first rudiments of learning Mr.
Gildon had at the place of his nativity; thence his relations sent him
to the English college of secular priests at Doway in Hainault, with
a design of making him a priest; but after five years study there, he
found his inclination direct him to a quite different course of life.
When he was nineteen years old he returned to England, and as soon as he
was of age, and capable of enjoying the pleasures of gaiety, he came
to London, where he spent the greatest part of his paternal estate.
At about the age of twenty-three, to crown his other imprudences, he
married, without improving his reduced circumstances thereby.
During the reign of King James II. he dedicated his time to the study
of the prevailing controversies, and he somewhere declares, it cost him
above seven years close application to books, before he could entirely
overcome the prejudices of his education. He never believed the absurd
tenets of the church of Rome; nor could he embrace the ridiculous
doctrine of her infallibility: But as he had been taught an early
reverence to the priesthood, and a submissive obedience to their
authority, it was a long while before he assumed courage to think freely
for himself, or declare what he thought.
His first attempt in the drama, was not till he had arrived at his 32d
year; and he himself in his essays tells us, that necessity (the general
inducement) was his first motive of venturing to be an author.
He is the author of three plays, viz.
1. The Roman Bride's Revenge, a Tragedy; acted at the Theatre-Royal
1697. This play was written in a month, and had the usual success of
hasty productions, though the first and second acts are well written,
and the catastrophe beautiful; the moral being to give us an example, in
the punishment of Martian, that no consideration ought to make us delay
the service of our country.
2. Phaeton, or the Fatal Divorce; a Tragedy, acted at the Theatre-Royal
1698, dedicated to Charles Montague, Esq; This play is written in
imitation of the ancients, with some reflexions on a book called a Short
View of the Immorality of the English Stage, written by Mr. Collier, a
Non-juring Clergyman, who combated in the cause of virtue, with success,
against Dryden, Congreve, Dennis, and our author. The plot of this play,
and a great many of the beauties, Mr. Gildon owns in his preface, he has
taken from the Medea of Euripides.
3. Love's. Victim, or the Queen of Wales; a Tragedy, acted at the
Theatre in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields.
He introduced the Play called the Younger Brother, or the Amorous Jilt;
written by Mrs. Behn, but not brought upon the stage 'till after her
decease. He made very little alteration in it. Our author's plays have
not his name to them; and his fault lies generally in the stile, which
is too near an imitation of Lee's.
He wrote a piece called the New Rehearsal, or Bays the Younger;
containing an Examen of the Ambitious Step-mother, Tamerlane, The Biter,
Fair Penitent, The Royal Convert, Ulysses, and Jane Shore, all written
by Mr. Rowe; also a Word or Two on Mr. Pope's Rape of the Lock, to which
is prefixed a Preface concerning Criticism in general, by the Earl of
Shaftsbury, Author of the Characteristics, 8vo. 1714. Scene the Rose
Tavern. The freedom he used with Mr. Pope in remarking upon the Rape of
the Lock, it seems was sufficient to raise that gentleman's resentment,
who was never celebrated for forgiving. Many years after, Mr. Pope took
his revenge, by stigmatizing him as a dunce, in his usual keen spirit of
satire: There had arisen some quarrel between Gildon and Dennis, upon
which, Mr. Pope in his Dunciad, B. iii. has the following lines,
Ah Dennis! Gildon ah! what ill-starr'd rage
Divides a friendship long confirm'd by age?
Blockheads with reason wicked wits abhor,
But fool with fool is barb'rous civil war.
Embrace; embrace my sons! be foes no more,
Nor glad vile poets with true critics gore.
This author's other works are chiefly these,
The Post-Boy Robb'd of his Mail, or the Packet Broke Open; consisting of
Five Hundred Letters to several Persons of Quality, &c. 1692.
He published the Miscellaneous Works of Charles Blount, Esq; to which he
prefixed the Life of the Author, and an Account, and Vindication of his
Death, in 12mo. 1695. In this volume are several of the publisher's own
letters.
Likewise Letters, and Essays, on several Subjects, philosophical,
historical, critical, amorous, &c. in Prose and Verse, to John Dryden,
Esq; George Granville, Esq; Walter Moyle, Esq; Mr. Congreve, Mr. Dennis,
and other ingenious gentlemen of the age.
Miscellaneous Poems, on several Occasions, and Translations from Horace,
Persius, Petronius Arbiter, &c. with an Essay upon Satire, by the famous
M. Dacier, 8vo. 1692.
A Review of Her Royal Highness Princess Sophia's Letters to the Lord
Archbishop of Canterbury, and that of Sir Rowland Gwynn's, to the Right
Hon. the Earl of Stamford, 8vo. 1706.
Canons, or the Vision; a Poem, addressed to the Right Hon. James Earl of
Carnarvon, &c. 1717.
The Laws of Poetry, as laid down by the Duke of Buckingham in his Essay
on Poetry, by the Earl of Roscommon in his Essay upon Translated Verse;
and by Lord Lansdown on Unnatural Flights in Poetry, explained and
illustrated, &c. 8vo. 1721.
A Continuation of Langbain's Lives of the Poets.
Mr. Coxeter has imputed to him a piece called Measure for Measure, or
Beauty the best Advocate; altered from Shakespear, and performed at
the Theatre in Lincoln's Inn-Fields 1700, with the addition of several
Entertainments of Music. Prologue and Epilogue by Mr. Oldmixon.
The Deist's Manual, or Rational Enquiry into the Christian Religion,
with some Animadversions on Hobbs, Spinosa, the Oracles of Reason,
Second Thoughts, &c. to which is prefixed a Letter from the Author of
the Method with the Deists, 1705.
Complete Art of Poetry.
Mr. Gildon died on the 12th of January 1723, and in the words of Boyer's
Political State, vol. xxvii. p. 102. we shall sum up his character.
'On Sunday, January 12, died Mr. Charles Gildon, a person of great
literature, but a mean genius; who having attempted several kinds of
writing, never gained much reputation in any. Among other treatises, he
wrote the English Art of Poetry, which he had practised himself very
unsuccessfully in his dramatic performances. He also wrote an English
Grammar, but what he seemed to build his chief hopes of fame upon,
was, his late Critical Commentary on the Duke of Buckingham's Essay
on Poetry, which last piece was perused, and highly approved, by his
grace.'
* * * * *
THOMAS D'URFEY,
Was born in the county of Devon, and was first bred to the law; but we
have not heard from what family he was descended, nor in what year he
was born. He has written upwards of thirty plays, with various success,
but had a genius better turned to a ballad, and little irregular odes,
than for dramatic poetry. He soon forsook the profession of the law, and
threw himself upon the public, by writing for the stage.----That D'Urfey
was a man of some abilities, and, enjoyed the esteem and friendship
of men of the greatest parts in his time, appears from the favourable
testimony of the author of the Guardian: And as the design of this work
is to collect, and throw into one view, whatever may be found concerning
any poet of eminence in various books, and literary records, we
shall make no scruple of transcribing what that ingenious writer has
humorously said concerning our author.
In Numb. 29. Vol. I. speaking of the advantages of laughing, he thus
mentions D'Urfey. 'A judicious author, some years since published a
collection of Sonnets, which he very successfully called Laugh and be
Fat; or Pills to purge Melancholy: I cannot sufficiently admire the
facetious title of these volumes, and must censure the world of
ingratitude, while they are so negligent in rewarding the jocose labours
of my friend Mr. D'Urfey, who was so large a contributor to this
Treatise, and to whose humorous productions, so many rural squires in
the remotest parts of this island are obliged, for the dignity and state
which corpulency gives them. It is my opinion, that the above pills
would be extremely proper to be taken with Asses milk, and might
contribute towards the renewing and restoring decayed lungs.'
Numb. 67. He thus speaks of his old friend.--'It has been remarked, by
curious observers, that poets are generally long lived, and run beyond
the usual age of man, if not cut off by some accident, or excess, as
Anacreon, in the midst of a very merry old age, was choaked with a grape
stone. The same redundancy of spirits that produces the poetical flame,
keeps up the vital warmth, and administers uncommon fuel to life. I
question not but several instances will occur to my reader's memory,
from Homer down to Mr. Dryden; I shall only take notice of two who have
excelled in Lyrics, the one an antient, the other a modern. The first
gained an immortal reputation by celebrating several jockeys in the
Olympic Games; the last has signalized himself on the same occasion,
by the Ode that begins with----To horse brave boys, to New-market, to
horse. The reader will by this time know, that the two poets I have
mentioned are Pindar, and Mr. D'Urfey. The former of these is long since
laid in his urn, after having many years together endeared himself to
all Greece, by his tuneful compositions. Our countryman is still living,
and in a blooming old age, that still promises many musical productions;
for if I am not mistaken our British Swan will sing to the last. The
best judges, who have perused his last Song on the moderate Man, do not
discover any decay in his parts; but think it deserves a place among the
finest of those works, with which he obliged the world in his more early
years.
'I am led into this subject, by a visit which I lately received from my
good old friend and cotemporary. As we both flourished together in king
Charles the IId's reign, we diverted ourselves with the remembrance of
several particulars that pass'd in the world, before the greatest part
of my readers were born; and could not but smile to think how insensibly
we were grown into a couple of venerable old gentlemen. Tom observed
to me, that after having written more Odes than Horace, and about four
times as many Comedies as Terence; he was reduced to great difficulties,
by the importunities of a set of men, who of late years had furnished
him with the accommodations of life, and would not, as we say, be paid
with a song. In order to extricate my old friend, I immediately sent for
the three directors of the Play-house, and desired they would in their
turn, do a good office for a man, who in Shakespear's phrase, often
filled their mouths; I mean with pleasantry and popular conceits. They
very generously listened to my proposal, and agreed to act the Plotting
Sisters (a very taking play of my old friends composing) on the 15th of
next month, for the benefit of the author.
'My kindness to the agreeable Mr. D'Urfey, will be imperfect, if, after
having engaged the players in his favour, I do not get the town to come
into it. I must therefore heartily recommend to all the young ladies
my disciples, the case of my old friend, who has often made their
grand-mothers merry; and whose Sonnets have perhaps lulled asleep many a
present toast, when she lay in her cradle. The gentleman I am speaking
of, has laid obligations on so many of his countrymen, that I hope they
will think this but a just return to the good service of a veteran Poet.
'I myself, remember king Charles the IId. leaning on Tom D'Urfey's
shoulder more than once, and humming over a song with him. It is
certain, that monarch was not a little supported, by joy to great Cæsar;
which gave the Whigs such a blow, as they were not able to recover
that whole reign. My friend afterwards attacked Popery, with the same
success, having exposed Beliarmine, and Portocarero, more than once, in
short satirical compositions, which have been in every body's mouth. He
made use of Italian Tunes and Sonato's, for promoting the Protestant
interest; and turned a considerable part of the Pope's music against
himself. In short, he has obliged the court with political Sonnets; the
country with Dialogues, and Pastorals; the city with Descriptions of a
lord Mayor's Feast; not to mention his little Ode upon Stool-Ball; with
many others of the like nature.
'Should the very individuals he has celebrated, make their appearance
together, they would be sufficient to fill the play-house. Pretty Peg of
Windsor, Gilian of Croydon; with Dolly and Molly; and Tommy and Johny;
with many others to be met with in the musical Miscellanies, would make
a great benefit.
'As my friend, after the manner of the old Lyrics, accompanies his works
with his own voice; he has been the delight of the most polite companies
and conversions, from the beginning of king Charles the IId's reign,
to our own times: Many an honest gentleman has got a reputation in his
country, by pretending to have been in company with Tom D'Urfey.
'I might here mention several other merits in my friend, as his
enriching our language with a multitude of rhimes, and bringing
words together, that without his good offices, would never have been
acquainted with one another, so long as it had been a tongue; but I must
not omit that my old friend angled for a trout, the best of any man in
England.
'After what I have said, and much more that I might say, on this
subject, I question not but the world will think that my old friend
ought not to pass the remainder of his life in a cage, like a singing
bird; but enjoy all that Pindaric liberty, which is suitable to a man of
his genius. He has made the world merry, and I hope they will make him
easy, as long as he stays amongst us. This I will take upon me to say,
they cannot do a kindness, to a more diverting companion, or a more
chearful, honest, good-natur'd man.'----
The same author, Numb. 82. puts his readers in mind when D'Urfey's
benefit came on, of some other circumstances favourable to him. 'The
Plotting Sisters, says he, is this day to be acted for the benefit of
the author, my old friend Mr. D'Urfey. This comedy was honoured with the
presence of King Charles II. three of the first five nights. My
friend has in this work shewn himself a master, and made not only the
characters of the play, but also the furniture of the house contribute
to the main design. He has made excellent use of a table with a carpet,
and the key of a closet; with these two implements, which would perhaps
have been over-looked by an ordinary writer, he contrives the most
natural perplexities (allowing only the use of these houshold goods
in poetry) that ever were represented on a stage. He also made good
advantage of the knowledge of the stage itself; for in the nick of being
surprized, the lovers are let down, and escape at a trap door. In a
word, any who have the curiosity to observe what pleased in the last
generation, and does not go to a comedy with a resolution to be grave,
will find this evening ample food for mirth. Johnson, who understands
what he does as well as any man, exposes the impertinence of an old
fellow who has lost his senses, still pursuing pleasures with great
mastery. The ingenious Mr. Pinkethman is a bashful rake, and is
sheepish, without having modesty with great success. Mr. Bullock
succeeds Nokes in the part of Bubble, and, in my opinion, is not much
below him, for he does excellently that kind of folly we call absurdity,
which is the very contrary of wit; but next to that is, of all things,
properest to excite mirth. What is foolish is the object of pity,
but absurdity often proceeds from an opinion of sufficiency, and
consequently is an honest occasion for laughter. These characters in
this play, cannot but make it a very pleasant entertainment, and the
decorations of singing and dancing, will more than repay the good-nature
of those, who make an honest man a visit of two merry hours, to make his
following year unpainful.'
These are the testimonies of friendship and esteem, which this great
author has given in favour of D'Urfey, and however his genius may be
turned for the Sing-song, or Ballad, which is certainly the lowest
species of poetry, yet that man cannot be termed contemptible, who was
thus loved, and, though in jocular terms, praised by Mr. Addison.
There are few, or no particulars relating to the life of this poet
preserved. He was attached to the Tory interest, and in the latter part
of Queen Anne's reign frequently had the honour of diverting her with
witty catches, and songs of humour suited to the spirit of the times. He
died, according to Mr. Coxeter, February 26, 1723, in a good old age,
and was buried in the Church-yard of St. James's, Westminster. His
dramatic works are,
1. The Siege of Memphis, or the Ambitious Queen; a Tragedy acted at the
Theatre-royal, printed in quarto 1676. Mr. Langbain says that this play
is full of bombast and fustian, and observes, 'That there goes more
to the making a poet, than copying verses, or tagging rhimes, and
recommends to the modern poetasters, the following lines from a Prologue
to a Play called the Atheist.'
'Rhimsters get wit, e're ye pretend to shew it,
Nor think a game at Crambo makes a poet.'
2. Madam Fickle, or the Witty False One; acted at the duke of York's
Theatre, printed in quarto, 1677, dedicated to the duke of Ormond. This
play is compiled from several other Comedies; the scene is laid in
Covent-Garden.
3. Trick for Trick, or the Debauched Hypocrite; a Comedy acted at the
Theatre-Royal 1678: This is the only one of Fletcher's plays, called
Monsieur Thomas revived.
4. The Fool turn'd Critic; acted at the Theatre-Royal, 1678. Several of
the characters of this play are borrowed; as Old-wine-love, Trim and
Small-wit, seem to be taken from Senio Asotus, and Ballio, in Randolph's
Jealous Lovers.
5. Fond Husband, or the Plotting Sisters, a Comedy. Of this we have
already given some account, in the words of Mr. Addison.
6. Squire Old-Sap, or the Night-Adventures; a Comedy; acted at the
duke's Theatre, printed in quarto, 1679. Several incidents in this play
are taken from Francion's Comic. Hist. Boccace's Novels, les Contes de
M. de la Fontaine.
7. The Virtuous Wife, or Good-Luck at last; a Comedy acted at the duke's
Theatre 1680. Several hints are taken from the Town, Marriage A-la-mode,
&c. the Scene Chelsea.
8. Sir Barnaby Whig, or no Wit like a Woman's; a Comedy acted at the
Theatre-Royal 1681. Dedicated to the right honourable George Earl of
Berkley. The plot of this play is taken from a Play of Marmion's, called
the Fine Companion; and part from the Double Cuckold, a Novel, written
by M. St. Evremond. Scene London.
9. The Royalist, a Comedy; acted at the Duke's Theatre 1682. This play,
which is collected chiefly from novels, succeeded on the stage; printed
in 4to. 1644.
10. The Injured Princess, or the Fatal Wager; a Tragi-Comedy; acted
at the Theatre-Royal 1682. The foundation of this play is taken from
Shakespear's Cymbeline.
11. A Common-wealth of Women, a Tragi-Comedy; acted at the Theatre Royal
1686, dedicated to Christopher Duke of Albemarle. This play is chiefly
borrowed from Fletcher's Sea Voyage. The scene is in Covent Garden.
12. The Banditti, or a Lady's Distress; a Comedy; acted at the
Theatre-Royal 1688. This play met with great opposition during the
performance, which was disturbed by the Catcalls. This occasioned the
author to take his revenge upon the town, by dedicating it to a certain
Knight, under the title of Sir Critic Cat-call. The chief plot of this
play is founded on a Romance written by Don Francisco de las Coveras,
called Don Fenise, translated into English in 8vo. See the History of
Don Antonio, b. iv. p. 250. The design of Don Diego's turning Banditti,
and joining with them to rob his supposed father, resembles that of
Pipperollo in Shirley's play called the Sisters. Scene Madrid.
13. A Fool's Preferment, or the Three Dukes of Dunstable; a Comedy;
acted at the Queen's Theatre in Dorset-Garden 1688, dedicated to Charles
Lord Morpeth, in as familiar a way as if the Author was a man of
Quality. The whole play is little more than a transcript of Fletcher's
Noble Gentlemen, except one scene, which is taken from a Novel called
The Humours of Basset. Scene the Court, in the time of Henry IV. The
songs in this play were all composed by the celebrated Musician Mr.
Henry Purcell.
14. Bussy D'Amboise, or the Husband's Revenge; a Tragedy; acted at the
Theatre-Royal, 4to. 1691, addressed to Edward Earl of Carlisle. This
is a play of Mr. Chapman's revis'd, and the character of Tamyra, Mr.
D'Urfey tells us, he has altered for the better. The scene Paris.
15. Love for Money, or the Boarding School; a Comedy; acted at the
Theatre-Royal 1691, dedicated to Charles Lord Viscount Lansdown, Count
of the Sacred Roman Empire, &c. This play met with opposition in the
first day's representation, but afterwards succeeded pretty well. The
scene Chelsea.
16. The Richmond Heiress, or a Woman once in the Right; a Comedy, acted
at the Theatre-Royal 1693.