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.
Which famed Motteux in soft heroics made;
And all the sworn Confederates resort,
To view the triumph of their sovereign’s court.
Dryden - Complete
”
[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. ]
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1.
[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. ]
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