The Dramatic Works of John Dryden Part 18

16. All For Love. T. K.S. Jan. 31, 1677-8. 1678.

17. The Kind Keeper, or Mr. Limberham. C. D.S. ................ 1678.

18. Oedipus. T. D.S. ................ 1679.

19. Troilus and Cressida. T. D.S. April 11, 1679. 1679.

20. The Spanish Friar. T.C. D.S. ................ 1681.

21. The Duke of Guise. T. The United ................ 1683.

Companies

22. Albion and Albanius. O. U.C. ................ 1685.

23. Don Sebastian. T. U.C. ................ 1690.

24. Amphitryon. C. U.C. ................ 1690.

25. King Arthur. O. U.C. ................ 1691.

26. Cleomenes. T. U.C. ................ 1692.

27. Love Triumphant. T.C. U.C. ................ 1694.

FOOTNOTES

[1] It formed the machine on which Iris appeared (vol. vii.). I have been favoured by Samuel Egerton Brydges, Esq., with the following "Extract from the Journal of Captain Christopher Gunman, commander of his Royal Highness's yacht the Mary, lying in Calais pier, Tuesday, 18th March:

"1683-4,

"March 18th. It was variable cloudy weather: this morning about seven o'clock saw in the firmament three suns, with two demi-rainbows; and all within one whole rainbow, in form and shape as here pourtrayed:

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The sun towards the left hand bore east, and that on the right hand bore south-east of me. I did sit and draw it as well as the time and place would permit me; for it was seen in its full form about the s.p.a.ce of half an hour; but part of the rainbow did see above two hours. It appeared first at three-quarters past six, and was over-clouded at a quarter past seven. The wind north-by-west."

Mr. Gunman, the descendant of the captain, has lately had a picture on the subject painted by Serres, the marine painter; which makes an interesting history-piece. It represents the phenomenon in the heavens-- the harbour of Calais--and the yacht lying off it, etc. etc.

[2] This tradition is thus critically examined, and proved by Mr.

Malone:--

"From a letter written by King James to the Prince of Orange, June 15, 1685, it appears, that though the Duke of Monmouth landed at Lyme, in Dorsetshire, on Thursday evening, June 11th, an account of his landing did not reach the King at Whitehall till _Sat.u.r.day_ morning the 13th.

The House of Commons, having met on that day at the usual hour, between nine and ten o'clock, the news was soon afterwards communicated to them by a Message from the King, delivered by the Earl of Middleton (to whom Etheredge afterwards wrote two poetical Epistles from Ratisbon). Having voted and drawn up an Address to his Majesty, desiring him to take care of his royal person, they adjourned to _four o'clock_; in which interval they went to Whitehall, presented their Address, and then met again.

_Com. Jour._ vol. ix. p. 735. About this time, therefore, it may be presumed, the news transpired, and in an hour afterwards probably reached the Theatre, where an audience was a.s.sembled at the representation of the opera of 'Albion and Albanius;' for pays at that time began at four o'clock. It seems from Mr. Luttrell's MS. note, that the first representation of this opera was on Sat.u.r.day the 6th of June; and Downes (_Roscius Ang._ p. 40) says, that in consequence of Monmouth's invasion, it was only performed _six_ times; so that the sixth representation was, without doubt, on Sat.u.r.day, the 13th of June.

An examination of dates is generally fatal to tales of this kind: here, however, they certainly support the tradition mentioned in the text."-- _Life of Dryden_, page 188.

[3] The expressions in the dedication are such as to preclude all idea but of profound respect: "Sir, The value I have ever had for your writings, makes me impatient to peruse all treatises that are crowned with your name; whereof, the last that fell into my hands was your '_Religio Laici_;' which expresses as well your great judgment in, as value for, religion: a thing too rarely found in this age among gentlemen of your parts; and, I am confident (with the blessing of G.o.d upon your endeavours), not unlikely to prove of great advantage to the public; since, as Mr. Herbert well observes,

"A verse may find him who a sermon flies, And turn delight into a sacrifice."

[4] Blount preserves indeed that affectation of respect for the doctrines of the established church which decency imposes; but the tendency of his work is to decry all revelation. It is founded on the noted work of Lord Herbert of Cherbury, "_De Veritate_."

[5] "I was unable to resist the weight of historical evidence, that within the same period most of the loading doctrines of Popery were already introduced in theory and practice; nor was my conclusion absurd, that miracles are the test of truth, and that the Church must be orthodox and pure, which was so often approved by the visible interposition of the Deity. The marvellous tales which are so boldly attested by the Basils and Chrysostoms, the Austins and Jeroms, compelled me to embrace the superior merits of celibacy, the inst.i.tution of the monastic life, the use of the sign of the cross, of holy oil, and even of images, the invocation of saints, the worship of relics, the rudiments of purgatory in prayers for the dead, and the tremendous mystery of the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ, which insensibly swelled into the prodigy of transubstantiation. In these dispositions, and already more than half a convert, I formed an unlucky intimacy with a young gentleman of our college, whose name I shall spare. With a character less resolute, Mr. ---- had imbibed the same religious opinions; and some Popish books, I know not through what channel, were conveyed into his possession. I read, I applauded, I believed; the English translations of two famous works of Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, the 'Exposition of the Catholic Doctrine,' and the 'History of the Protestant Variations,' achieved my conversion; and I surely fell by a n.o.ble hand. I have since examined the originals with a more discerning eye, and shall not hesitate to p.r.o.nounce, that Bossuet is indeed a master of all the weapons of controversy. In the 'Exposition,' a specious apology, the orator a.s.sumes, with consummate art, the tone of candour and simplicity; and the ten-horned monster is transformed, at his magic touch, into the milk-white Hind, who must be loved as soon as she is seen. In the 'History,' a bold and well-aimed attack, he displays, with a happy mixture of narrative and argument, the faults and follies, the changes and contradictions of our first reformers: whose variations (as he dexterously contends) are the mark of historical error, while the perpetual unity of the Catholic Church is the sign and test of infallible truth. To my present feelings, it seems incredible, that I should ever believe that I believed in transubstantiation. But my conqueror oppressed me with the sacramental words, '_Hoc est corpus meum_,' and dashed against each other the figurative half-meanings of the Protestant sects; every objection was resolved into omnipotence; and, after repeating at St. Mary's the Athanasian creed, I humbly acquiesced in the mystery of the real presence.

"To take up half on trust, and half to try, Name it not faith, but bungling bigotry, Both knave and fool, the merchant we may call, To pay great sums, and to compound the small; For who would break with heaven, and would not break for all?"

GIBBON'S _Memoirs of his own Life_.

[6] In a libel in the "State Poems," vol. iii., Dryden is made to say,

"One son turned me, I turned the other two, But had not an indulgence, sir, like you"--Page 244

[7] Vol. xviii.

[8] [Grounds have already been shown for thinking that Scott is mistaken here. I owe it to an accomplished critic of my former work in the _Sat.u.r.day Review_ to take more notice than I did in that work of Evelyn's entry in his diary, January 19, 1686. "Dryden, the famous play-writer and his two sons, and Mrs. Nelly, miss to the late king, were said to go to ma.s.s. Such proselytes are no great loss to the Church." I need only say, first, that it is obviously a mere rumour; secondly, that it is known to be false as to Nell Gwynne, who abode in that purity of the Protestant faith which had already differentiated her from others of Charles's favourites. As Evelyn's anonymous informer was wrong in one part of his evidence, the error vitiates the other. It may perhaps be noted here that Scott's positive a.s.sertion that Lady Elizabeth had been converted before her husband is based only on a supposition of Malone's.--ED.]

[9] The grant bears this honourable consideration, which I extract from Mr. Malone's work: "Pat. 2. Jac. p. 4. n. 1. Know ye, that we, for and in consideration of the many good and acceptable services done by John Dryden, Master of Arts, to our late dearest brother King Charles the Second, as also to us done and performed, and taking notice of the learning and eminent abilities of the said J.D." etc.

[10] "Absalom and Achitophel," Part i. vol. ix.

[11] I am indebted for this anecdote to Mr. Octavius Gilchrist, the editor of the poems of the witty Bishop Corbet. [No solid foundation for this tradition is known, though there is a certain circ.u.mstantial verisimilitude about it. Rushton was and is in the midst of forest scenery such as the poem describes, and it had been the seat of the persecuted Roman Catholic family of Tresham, some of whose buildings, covered with emblems of their faith, survive to this day. Here perhaps maybe mentioned another of the few local traditions respecting Dryden, one too which has, I think, escaped mention as a rule hitherto. It was brought to my notice by my friends Mrs. Hubbard and Dr. Sebastian Evans that there is a "Dryden's Walk" at Croxall near Lichfield. I consulted guide-books and county histories in vain. But Lysons' "Magna Britannia"

informed me that Croxall pa.s.sed from the Curzons to the Sackvilles early in the seventeenth century, that the family occasionally lived there, and that Dryden is traditionally said to have visited Dorset there.

Croxall is now a station on the Midland Railway between Burton and Tamworth.--ED.]

[12] See a long note upon this subject, vol. x.

[13] That Prior was discontented with his share of preferment, appears from the verses ent.i.tled, "Earl Robert's Mice," and an angry expostulation elsewhere:

"My friend Charles Montague's preferred; Nor would I have it long observed, That one mouse eats while t'other's starved.'

There is a popular tradition, but no farther to be relied on than as showing the importance attached to the "Town and Country Mouse," which says, that Dorset, in presenting Montague to King William, said, "I have brought a _Mouse_ to wait on your Majesty." "I will make a man of him,"

said the king; and settled a pension of 500 upon the fortunate satirist.

[14] The pa.s.sage, as quoted at length by Mr. Malone, removes an obscurity which puzzled former biographers, at least as far as anything can be made clear, which must ultimately depend upon such clumsy diction as the following. "It (the answer of Burnet) will perhaps be a little longer a digesting to Mons. Varillas, than it was a preparing to me. One proof will quickly appear, whether the world is so satisfied with his Answer, as upon that to return to any thoughts of his history; for I have been informed from England, that a gentleman, who is known both for poetry and other things, had spent three months in translating M.

Varillas's History; but that, as soon as my Reflections appeared, he discontinued his labour, finding the credit of his author was gone. Now, if he thinks it is recovered by his answer, he will perhaps go on with his translation; and this may be, for aught I know, as good an entertainment for him as the conversation that he had set on between the Hinds and Panthers, and all the rest of animals, for whom M. Varillas may serve well enough for an author: and this history and that poem are such extraordinary things of their kind, that it will be but suitable to see the author of the worst poem, become likewise the translator of the worst history, that the age has produced. If his grace and his wit improve both proportionably, he will hardly find that he has gained much by the change he has made, from having no religion to choose one of the worst. It is true, he had something to sink from, in matter of wit; but as for his morals, it is scarce possible for him to grow a worse man than he was. He has lately wreaked his malice on me for spoiling his three months' labour; but in it he has done me all the honour that any man can receive from him, which is to be railed at by him. If I had ill-nature enough to prompt me to wish a very bad wish for him, it should be, that he would go on and finish his translation. By that it will appear, whether the English nation, which is the most competent judge in this matter, has, upon the seeing our debate, p.r.o.nounced in M.

Varillas's favour or in mine. It is true, Mr. D. will suffer a little by it; but at least it will serve to keep him in from other extravagancies; and if he gains little honour by this work, yet he cannot lose so much by it, as he has done by his last employment."

[15] In the "Staple of News," act iii. scene 2, Jonson talks of the miracles done by the Jesuits in j.a.pan and China, as current articles of intelligence.

[16] In the Dedication to the Queen, this is stated with a gravity suitable to the occasion. "The reverend author of this Life, in his dedication to his Most Christian Majesty, affirms, that France was owing for him to the intercession of St. Francis Xavier. That Anne of Austria, his mother, after twenty years of barrenness, had recourse to heaven, by her fervent prayers, to draw down that blessing, and addressed her devotions, in a particular manner, to this holy apostle of the Indies. I know not, madam, whether I may presume to tell the world, that your Majesty has chosen this great saint for one of your celestial patrons, though I am sure you will never be ashamed of owning so glorious an intercessor; not even in a country where the doctrine of the holy church is questioned, and those religious addresses ridiculed. Your Majesty, I doubt not, has the inward satisfaction of knowing, that such pious prayers have not been unprofitable to you; and the nation may one day come to understand, how happy it will be for them to have a son of prayers ruling over them."

[17] Vol. xvi.

[18] _Ibid_.

[19] _Ibid_.