1693, addressed to James Duke of Ormond. Mr. Charles Gildon, in an
epistle prefixed to the play, tells us, that this is much the best of
our author's performances. Mr. Dogget was first taken notice of as an
excellent actor, from the admirable performance of his part in this
play. Scene the Park, near Kensington.
18. The Comical History of Don Quixot, Part the First; acted at the
Queen's Theatre in Dorset-Garden 1694, dedicated to the Duchess of
Ormond. This play was acted with great applause; it is wholly taken from
the Spanish Romance of that name. Scene Mancha in Spain.
19. The Comical History of Don Quixot, Part the Second; acted at the
Queen's Theatre 1694, dedicated by an Epistle, in heroic Verse, to
Charles Earl of Dorset and Middlesex, &c. This play was likewise acted
with applause.
20. Don Quixot, Part the Third, with the Marriage of Mary the Buxom,
1669; this met with no success.
21. The Intrigues at Versailles, or A Jilt in all Humours; a Comedy;
acted at the Theatre-Royal in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields 1697, dedicated to
Sir Charles Sedley the Elder, Bart. and to his much honoured Friend Sir
Charles Sedley, his Son. Scene Versailles. The author complains of the
want of success in this play, when he asserts, the town had applauded
some pieces of his of less merit. He has borrowed very liberally from a
play of Mrs. Behn's called The Amorous Jilt.
22. Cynthia and Endymion, or The Lover of the Deities, a Dramatic Opera;
acted at the Theatre-Royal 1697, dedicated to Henry Earl of Romney; this
was acted with applause; and the author tells us, that King William's
Queen Mary intended to have it represented at Court. 'There are many
lines (says Jacob) in this play, above the genius which generally
appears in the other works of this author; but he has perverted the
characters of Ovid, in making Daphne, the chaste favourite of Diana,
a whore, and a jilt; and fair Syrene to lose her reputation, in the
unknown ignominy of an envious, mercenary, infamous woman.' Scene Ionia.
23. The Campaigners, or The Pleasant Adventures at Brussels; a Comedy;
with a familiar Preface upon a late Reformer of the Stage, ending with a
Satirical Fable of the Dog, and the Otter, 1698. This play is dedicated
to Thomas Lord Wharton, and part of it is borrowed from a Novel called
Female Falsehood. Scene Brussels. 24. Massanello, or a Fisherman Prince,
in two Parts; acted at the Theatre in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields 1700.
25. The Modern Prophets, or New Wit for a Husband; a Comedy.
26. The Old Mode and the New, or Country Miss with her Furbelo; a
Comedy. Scene Coventry.
27. Wonders in the Sun, or The Kingdom of Birds; a Comic Opera;
performed at the Queen's Theatre in the Hay-Market.
28. Bath, or The Western Lass; a Comedy; dedicated to John Duke of
Argyle.
29. The Two Queens of Brentford, or Bays no Poetaster; a Musical Farce,
or Comical Opera; being the Sequel of the Rehearsal, written by the Duke
of Buckingham; it has five Acts. Scene Inside of the Playhouse.
30. The Grecian Heroine, or The Fate of Tyranny; a Tragedy; written
1718. Scene Corinth.
31. Ariadne, or The Triumph of Bacchus; the Scene Naxos, an Island in
the Archipelago. These last were published with a Collection of Poems
1721.
These are the dramatic performances of D'Urfey, by which his incessant
labours for the stage are to be seen; though not one of his numerous
issue is now in possession of it. He was author of many poems, and
songs, which we need not here enumerate. Mr. Coxeter takes particular
notice of a piece of his called Gloriana, a Funeral Pindarique Poem to
the memory of Queen Mary, 4to. 1695.
The Trophies, or Augusta's Glory; a triumphant Ode, made in honour of
the City, and upon the Trophies taken from the French at the Battle
of Ramillies, May 25, 1706, by the Duke of Marlborough, and fixed in
Guildhall, London, dedicated to the Lord Mayor, and Court of Aldermen
and Sheriffs, and also to the President. and Court of Managers for the
united Trade to the East Indies.
Honor & Opes, or The British Merchant's Glory; a Poem Congratulatory, on
the happy Decision, and Conclusion of all Difficulties between the Old
and New Company in the Trade to the East Indies. As a specimen of his
poetry take the following lines.
VERSES Congratulatory, to the Honourable WILLIAM BROMLEY, Esq; on his
being chosen SPEAKER of this present Parliament.
As when Hyperion with victorious light
Expels invading Pow'rs of gloomy night,
And vernal nature youthful dress'd and gay,
Salutes the radiant power that forms the day;
The mounting Lark exalts her joyful note,
And strains with harmony her warbling throat:
So now my muse that hopes to see the day,
When cloudy faction, that do's Britain sway,
Shall be o'ercome by reason's dazling ray;
Applauding senates for their prudent choice,
The will of Heaven by the Peoples voice,
First greets you Sir, then gladly do's prepare,
In tuneful verse, your welcome to the chair.
Awful th' assembly is, august the Queen,
In whose each day of life are wonders seen:
The nation too, this greatest of all years,
Who watch to see blest turns in their affairs,
Slighting the tempest on the Gallic shore,
Hope from the senate much, but from you more:
Whose happy temper judgment cultivates,
And forms so fit to aid our three estates.
The change of ministry late ordered here,
Was fated sure for this auspicious year;
That you predestin'd at a glorious hour,
To be chief judge of legislative power,
Might by your skill that Royal right asserts,
Like Heaven, reconcile the jarring parts.
Nor shines your influence, Sir, here alone,
The Church must your unequall'd prudence own,
Firm to support the cause, but rough to none.
Eusebia's sons, in laws divine possest,
Can learn from you how truth should be exprest;
Whether in modest terms, like balm, to heal;
Or raving notions, falsly counted zeal.
Our holy writ no rule like that allows,
No people an enrag'd apostle chose,
Nor taught Our Saviour, or St. Paul, like those.
Reason was mild, and calmly did proceed,
Which harsh might fail to make transgressors heed;
This saint your rhet'ric best knows how to prove,
Whose gracious method can inform, and move;
Direct the elders that such errors make,
And shew both how to preach, and how to speak.
Oh! sacred gift! in public matters great,
But in religious tracts divinely sweet;
Since to this grace they only have pretence
Whose happy learning join with a cælestial sense.
That Sir, you share both these, the muse forgive,
If I presume to write what all believe,
Your candour too, and charming courtesy,
Rever'd by them is justly so by me,
Let me not then offend your modesty,
If now my genius to a height I raise,
Such parts, and such humanity to praise.
This ancient [1]Baginton can witness well,
And the rich [2]library before it fell;
The precious hours amongst wise authors past,
Your Soul with their unvalued wealth possest;
And well may he to heights of knowledge come,
Who that Panthæon always kept at home.
Thus once, Sir, you were blest, and sure the fiend
That first entail'd a curse on human-kind,
And afterwards contriv'd this fatal cross,
Design'd the public, by your private loss.
Oh! who had seen that love to learning bore,
The matchless authors of the days of yore;
The fathers, prelates, poets, books where arts
Renown'd explain'd the men of rarest parts,
Shrink up their shrivell'd bindings, lose their names,
And yield immortal worth to temporary flames,
That would not sigh to see the ruins there,
Or wish to quench 'em with a flowing tear.
But as in story, where we wonders view,
As there were flames, there was a Phoenix too;
An excellence from the burnt pile did rise,
That still aton'd for past calamities;
So my prophetic genius in its height,
Viewing your merit, Sir, foretels your fate.
Your valiant [3]ancestors, that bravely fought,
And from the foe the Royal standard got;
Which nobly now adorn your houshold coat,
Denotes the former grandeur of your race;
Your present worth fits you for present grace.
The Sovereign must esteem what all admire,
Bromley and Baginton shall both raise higher,
Fate oft contrives magnificence by fire.
[Footnote 1: The ancient seat of the Bromleys in Warwickshire.]
[Footnote 2: A famous Library burnt there.]
[Footnote 3: Vide History of Warwickshire.]
* * * * *
ELKANAH SETTLE, Son of Joseph Settle of Dunstable in Bedfordshire, was
born there; and in the 18th year of his age, 1666, was entered commoner
of Trinity College, Oxon, and put under the tuition of Mr. Abraham
Champion, fellow of that house; but he quitted the university without
taking any degree, and came to London[1], where he addicted himself to
the study of poetry, in which he lived to make no inconsiderable figure.
Finding the nation divided between the opinions of Whig and Tory, and
being sensible that a man of parts could not make any considerable
figure, unless he attached himself to one of these parties; Settle
thought proper, on his first setting out in life, to join the Whigs, who
were then, though the minor, yet a powerful party, and to support whose
interest he employed his talents.
About the year 1680, when the debates ran high concerning the exclusion
of the Duke of York from the succession, on account of his religious
principles, our author wrote a piece called the Character of a Popish
Successor, and what may be expected from such an one, humbly offered to
the consideration of both the Houses of Parliament appointed to meet at
Oxon, on March 21, 1681. This essay it seems was thought of consequence
enough to merit an answer, as at that time the Exclusion Bill employed
the general conversation. The answer to it was entitled The Character
of a Rebellion, and what England may expect from One; printed 1682. The
author of this last piece, is very severe on the character of Settle; he
represents him as an errant knave, a despicable coward, and a prophane
Atheist, and seems amazed that any party should make choice of a
champion, whose morals were so tainted; but as this is only the language
of party violence, no great credit is to be given to it.
The author of this pamphlet carries his zeal, and ill manners still
farther, and informs the world of the meanness of our author's birth,
and education, 'most of his relations (says he) are Barbers, and of the
baseness, falseness, and mutability of his nature, too many evidences
may be brought. He closed with the Whigs, contrary to the principles
he formerly professed, at a time when they took occasion to push their
cause, upon the breaking out of Oates's plot, and was ready to fall off
from, and return to them, for his own advantage.'
To the abovementioned pamphlet, written by Settle, various other answers
were published, some by writers of distinction, of which Sir Roger
L'Estrange was one; and to this performance of Sir Roger's, which was
entitled The Character of a Papist in Masquerade, supported by Authority
and Experience, Mr. Settle made a Reply, entitled The Character of a
Popish Successor Compleat; this, in the opinion of the critics, is the
smartest piece ever written upon the subject of the Exclusion Bill, and
yet Sir Roger, his antagonist, 'calls it a pompous, wordy thing, made
up of shifts, and suppositions, without so much as an argument, either
offered, or answered in stress of the question, &c.' Mr. Settle's cause
was so much better than that of his antagonist's, that if he had not
possessed half the powers he really did, he must have come off the
conqueror, for, who does not see the immediate danger, the fatal
chances, to which a Protestant people are exposed, who have the
misfortune to be governed by a Popish Prince. As the King is naturally
powerful, he can easily dispose of the places of importance, and trust,
so as to have them filled with creatures of his own, who will engage
in any enterprise, or pervert any law, to serve the purposes of the
reigning Monarch. Had not the nation an instance of this, during the
short reign of the very Popish Prince, against whom Settle contended?
Did not judge Jeffries, a name justly devoted to everlasting infamy,
corrupt the streams of justice, and by the most audacious cruelty,
pervert the forms of law, that the blood of innocent persons might be
shed, to gratify the appetite of a suspicious master? Besides, there
is always a danger that the religion which the King professes, will
imperceptibly diffuse itself over a nation, though no violence is used
to promote it. The King, as he is the fountain of honour, so is he the
fountain of fashion, and as many people, who surround a throne, are of
no religion in consequence of conviction; it is but natural to suppose,
that fashion would influence them to embrace the religion of the Prince,
and in James II's reign, this observation was verified; for the people
of fashion embraced the Popish religion so very fast, in order to please
the King, that a witty knight, who then lived, and who was by his
education, and principles, a Papist, being asked by a nobleman what
news? he made answer, I hear no news my lord, only, God's Papists can
get no preferment, because the King's Papists swarm so thick. This was a
sententious, and witty observation, and it will always hold true, that
the religion of the King will become the religion of people of fashion,
and the lower stations ape their superiors.
Upon the coronation of King James II. the two Parts of the Character of
a Popish Successor, were, with the Exclusion Bill, on the 23d of April,
1685, burnt by the sub-wardens, and fellows of Merton College, Oxon, in
a public bonfire, made in the middle of their great quadrangle. During
these contentions, Mr. Settle also published a piece called The Medal
Revers'd, published 1681; this was an answer to a poem of Dryden's
called The Medal, occasioned by the bill against the earl of Shaftsbury
being found ignoramus at the Old Baily, upon which the Whig party made
bonfires, and ordered a medal to be struck in commemoration of that
event. Shaftsbury, who was by his principles a Whig, and who could
not but foresee the miseries which afterwards happened under a Popish
Prince, opposed the succession with all his power; he was a man of very
great endowments, and being of a bustling tumultuous disposition, was
admirably fitted to be the head of a party. He was the leading man
against the succession of the Duke of York, and argued in the House
of Lords with great force against him, and what was more remarkable,
sometimes in the Duke's presence. It is related, that at the
Council-table, when his Majesty, and his Royal Brother were both
present, something concerning the succession was canvassed, when
Shaftsbury, not in the least intimidated, spoke his opinion with great
vehemence against the Duke, and was answered with equal heat, but with
less force, by the then lord chamberlain. During this debate, the Duke
took occasion to whisper the King, that his Majesty had a villain of a
chancellor, to which the King merrily replied, oddsfish, York, what a
fool you have of a chamberlain: by which it appears, his Majesty was
convinced that Shaftsbury's arguments were the strongest.
In consequence of Shaftsbury's violent opposition to the Duke, and the
court party, there was a Bill of Indictment of High Treason, read before
his Majesty's Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer in the Sessions-House
at the Old Bailey, but the Jury found it Ignoramus; upon which, all the
party rejoiced at the deliverance of their head. These disturbances gave
Mr. Settle an opportunity to display his abilities, which he did
not neglect to improve, by which means he procured so formidable an
antagonist as Mr. Dryden, who was obliged by his place of laureat, to
speak, and write for the court. Dryden had formerly joined Mr. Settle,
in order to reduce the growing reputation of Shadwell, but their
interest being now so opposite, they became poetical enemies, in which
Settle was, no doubt, over-matched. He wrote a poem, however, called
Azaria and Hushai, in five sheets, 4to. designed as an answer to Mr.
Dryden's poem called Absalom and Achitophel.
Soon after this, if we may credit the Oxford Antiquary, Settle changed
sides, and turned Tory, with as much violence as he had formerly
espoused the interest of the Whigs. He published in 1683, in eight meets
in folio, a Narrative; the first part of which is concerning himself,
as being of the Tory side; the second to shew the inconsistency, and
contradiction of Titus Oates's Narrative of the Plot of the Popish
Party, against the Life of King Charles II. at the time when that
Monarch intended to alter his ministry, to have consented to the
exclusion of his brother, and taken measures to support the Protestant
interest. This Oates was in the reign of James II. tried, and convidled
of perjury, upon the evidence chiefly of Papists, and had a severe
sentence pronounced, and inflicted upon him, viz. Imprisonmehd for life,
twice every year to stand on the pillory, and twice to be severely
whipt; but he received a pardon from King William, after suffering his
whippings, and two years imprisonment, with amazing fortitude, but was
never allowed again to be an evidence. While Settle was engaged in the
Tory party, he is said, by Wood, to have been author of Animadversions
on the Last Speech and Confession of William Lord Russel, who fell a
sacrifice to the Duke of York, and whose story, as related by Burnet,
never fails to move the reader to tears. Also Remarks on Algernon
Sidney's Paper, delivered to the Sheriffs at his Execution, London,
1683, in one sheet, published the latter end of December the same year.
Algernon Sidney was likewise murdered by the same kind of violence,
which popish bigotry had lifted up against the lives of some other
British worthies.
He also wrote a heroic poem on the Coronation of the High and Mighty
Monarch James II. London 1685, and then commenced a journalist for the
Court, and published weekly an Essay in behalf of the Administration. If
Settle was capable of these mean compliances of writing for, or against
a party, as he was hired, he must have possessed a very sordid mind,
and been totally devoid of all principles of honour; but as there is no
other authority for it than Wood, who is enthusiastic in his temper, and
often writes of things, not as they were, but as he would wish them to
be, the reader may give what credit he pleases to the report.
Our author's dramatic works are
1. The Empress of Morocco, a Tragedy; acted at the Duke of York's
Theatre. This play was likewise acted at court, as appears by the two
Prologues prefixed, which were both spoken by the Lady Elizabeth Howard;
the first Prologue was written by the Earl of Mulgrave, the other by
Lord Rochester; when it was performed at court, the Lords and Ladies of
the Bed-chamber played in it. Mr. Dryden, Mr. Shadwell, and Mr. Crowne,
wrote against it, which began a famous controversy betwixt the wits
of the town, wherein, says Jacob, Mr. Dryden was roughly handled,
particularly by the lord Rochester, and the duke of Buckingham, and
Settle got the laugh upon his side.
2. Love and Revenge, a Tragedy; acted at the Duke of York's Theatre,
4to. 1675, dedicated to William Duke of Newcastle.
3. Cambyses King of Persia, a Tragedy; acted at the Duke's Theatre,
dedicated to Anne Duchess of Monmouth. This tragedy is written in heroic
verse; the plot from Justin, lib. i. c. 9. Herodotus, &c. The Scene is
in Suza, and Cambyses's camp near the walls of Suza.
4. The Conquest of China by the Tartars, a Tragedy; acted at the Duke's
Theatre, 4to. 1676, dedicated to the Right Hon. the Lord Howard of
Castle-rising. This play is likewise written in heroic verse, and
founded on history.
5. Ibrahim, the Illustrious Bassa, a Tragedy in heroic verse; acted at
the Duke's Theatre 1677, dedicated to the Duchess of Albemarle. Plot
from the Illustrious Bassa, a Romance, by Scuddery. The Scene Solyman's
Seraglio.
6. Pastor Fido, or The Faithful Shepherd; a Pastoral; acted at the Duke
of York's Theatre. This is Sir Richard Fanshaw's translation from the
Italian of Guarini Improved. Scene Arcadia.
7. Fatal Love, or The Forced Inconstancy; a Tragedy; acted at the
Theatre-Royal, 1680, dedicated to Sir Robert Owen.
8. The Female Prelate, being the History of the Life and Death of Pope
Joan; a Tragedy; acted at the Theatre-Royal, 4to. 1680, dedicated to
Anthony Earl of Shaftsbury.
9. The Heir of Morocco, with the Death of Gyland, a Tragedy; acted at
the Theatre-Royal 1682.
10. Distressed Innocence, or the Princess of Persia; a Tragedy; acted
at the Theatre-Royal, dedicated to John Lord Cutts. This play was acted
with applause; the author acknowledges his obligations to Betterton, for
some valuable hints in this play, and that Mr. Mountford wrote the last
scene of it.
11. The Ambitious Slave, or a Generous Revenge; a Tragedy; acted at the
Theatre Royal, 4to. 1694. This play met with ill success.
12. The World in the Moon, a Dramatic, Comic Opera; performed at the
Theatre in Dorset-Garden, by his Majesty's Servants, 1698.
13. City Rambler, or The Playhouse Wedding; a Comedy; acted at the
Theatre-Royal.
14. The Virgin Prophetess, or The Fate of Troy; an Opera; performed
1701.
15. The Ladies Triumph, a Comic Opera; presented at the Theatre in
Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, by Subscription, 1710.
Our poet possessed a pension from the City Magistrates, for an
annual Panegyric to celebrate the Festival of the Lord Mayor, and
in consequence wrote various poems, which he calls Triumphs for the
Inauguration of the Lord Mayors, which are preserved in his works, and
which it would be needless to enumerate. Besides his dramatic pieces,
he published many occasional poems, addressed to his patrons, and some
funeral elegies on the deaths of his friends. It is certain Settle did
not want learning, and, in the opinion of some critics, in the early
part of his life, sometimes excelled Dryden; but that was certainly
owing more to a power he had of keeping his temper unruffled, than any
effort of genius; for between Dryden and Settle, there is as great
difference, as between our modern versifiers, and Pope.
Whatever was the success of his poetry, he was the best contriver of
machinery in England, and for many years of the latter part of his life
received an annual salary from Mrs. Minns, and her daughter Mrs. Leigh,
for writing Drolls for Bartholomew, and Southwark Fairs, with proper
decorations, which were generally so well contrived, that they exceeded
those of their opponents in the same profession.
Our author died in the Charterhouse 1724; some months before his
decease, he offered a play to the managers of the Theatre-Royal in
Drury-Lane, but he lived not to introduce it on the stage; it was called
The Expulsion of the Danes from Britain.
End of the Third Volume.
[Footnote 1: Wood's Athen. Oxon. vol, ii. p. 1076.]