miffion; he was reftored to his place in the council, and in the bedchamber in 1667, and feemed perfectly confirmed in the good graces of the King, who was, perhaps, too much charmed with his wit to confider him as an enemy. In the year 1670, the duke was fuppofed to be concerned in Blood's attempt on the life of the duke of Ormond. This fcheme was to have con. veyed that nobleman to Tyburn, and there to have hanged him; for which purpose he was taken out of his coach in St. James's Street, and carried away by Blood and his fon beyond Devonshire Houfe, Piccadilly, but then refcued. Blood afterwards endeavoured to fteal the crown out of the Tower, but was feized; however, he was not only pardoned, but had an eftate of five hundred pounds a year given him in Ireland, and admitted into an intimacy with the King. The reafon of Blood's malice against the duke of Ormond was, because his eftate at Sorney was forfeited for his treason in the courfe of government, and must have been done by any lord lieutenant whatever. This, together with the inftigation of fome enemy of the duke of Ormond's at court, wrought upon him fo, that he undertook the affaffination. Mr. Carte fuppofes, that no man was more likely to rage Blood in this attempt, than the duke of Buck.. ingham, who, he fays was the molt profligate man of his time, and had fo little honour in him, that he would engage in any fcheme to gratify an irregular paffion. The duke of Ormond had acted with fome feverity againft him, when he was detected in the attempt of unhinging the government, which had excited fo much refentment, as to vent itfelf in this manner. Mr. Carte likewife charges the duchefs of Cleveland with confpiring against Ormond, but has given no reafons why he thinks fhe inftigated the attempt. P 3 encou The The duchefs was coufin to the duke of Buckingham, but it appears in the Annals of Gallantry of thofe times, that fhe never loved him, nor is it probable the engaged with him in fo dangerous a scheme. That Buckingham was a confpirator against Ormond, Mr. Carte fays, there is not the leaft doubt; and he mentions a circumstance of his guilt too ftrong to be refifted. That there were reafons to think him the perfon who put Blood upon the attempt of the duke of Ormond, (fays he) cannot well be queftioned, after the following relation, which I had from a gentleman (Robert Lefly of Glaflough, in the county of Monaghan, efquire) whofe veracity and memory, none that knew him, will ever doubt, who received it from the mouth of Dr. Turner, bifhop of Ely. The earl of Offory came in one day, not long after the affair, and feeing the duke of Buckingham ftanding by the King, his colour rofe, and ⚫he spoke to this effect; My lord, I know well, that you are at the bottom of this late attempt of Blood's upon my father, and therefore I give you fair warning, if my father comes to a violent end by fword or piftol, or the more fecret way of poifon, I fhall not be at a lofs to know the firft author of it; I fhall confider you as the affaffin; I fhall treat you as fuch, and wherever I meet you, I fhall piftol you, though • you ftood behind the King's chair, and I tell it you in his Majefty's prefence, that you may be fure I fhall keep my word.' I know not whether this will be deemed any breach of decorum to the King, in whofe prefence it was faid, but, in my opinion, it was an act of fpirit and refentment worthy of a fon, when his father's life was menaced, and the villain (Blood) who failed in the attempt, was fo much courted, careffed, and in high favour immediately afterwards. In June 1671, the duke was inftalled chancellor of the univerfity of Cambridge, and the fame year was fent ambaffador to the King of France; who being pleafed with his person and errand, entertained him very nobly for feveral days together; and upon his taking leave, gave him a word and belt fet with Pearls and Diamonds, to the value of 40,000 piftoles. He was afterwards fent to that King at Utrecht in June 1672, together with Henry earl of Arlington, and George lord Hallifax. He was one of the cabal at Whitehall, and in the beginning of the feffion of Parliament, February 1672, endeavoured to caft the odium of the Dutch war from himfelf, upon lord Arlington, another of the cabal. In June 1674, he refigned the chancellorship of Cambridge. About this time he became a great favourer of the Nonconformifts. February 16, 1676, his grace, and James earl of Salisbury, Anthony earl of Shaft/bury, and Philip lord Wharton, were committed to the Tower by order of the Houfe of Lords, for a contempt, in refufing to retract what they had faid the day before, when the duke, immediately after his Majefty had ended his fpeech to both Houfes, endeavoured to fhew from law and reafon, that the long prorogation was nulled, and the Parliament was confequently diffolved. The chief of our author's works is, The Rehearsal, a Comedy, firft acted on December 7, 1671. It is faid that the duke was affifted in writing this play, by his Chaplain Dr. Thomas Sprat, Martin Clifford, efquire, mafter of the Charterhoufe, and Mr. Samuel Butler, author of Hudibras. Jacob, in his Lives of the Poets, obferves, that he cannot exactly learn when his grace began this piece; but this much, fays he, 』་ આ we may certainly gather from the plays ridiculed in it, that it was before the end of 1663, and fi ⚫ nifhed before 1664, because it had been feveral ⚫ times rehearsed, the players were perfect in their parts, and all things in readiness for its acting, ⚫ before the great plague in 1665, and that then prevented it, for what was then intended, was very different from what now appears. In that he called his poet Bilboa, by which name Sir • Robert Howard was the perfon po'nted at. Dur ing this interval, many plays were published, written in heroic rhime, and on the death of Sir William Davenant 1669, whom Mr. Dry• den fucceeded in the laurel, it became ftill in greater vogue; this moved the duke to change the name of his poet, from Bilboa to Bayes.' This character of Bayes is inimitably drawn; in it the various foibles of poets (whether good, bad, or indifferent) are fo excellently blended, as to make the moft finifhed picture of a poeticâl coxcomb 'Tis fuch a master-piece of trae humour as will ever laft, while our English tongue is underfood, or the ftage affords a good comedian to play it. How fhall I now avoid the imputation of vanity, when I relate, that this piece, on being revived (when I firft appeared in the part of Bayes) at the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden in the year 1739, was, in that one feafon (continued to 1740) played upwards of forty nights, to great audiences, with continued mirthful applaufe. As this is a truth, I give it to the candid; and let the relation take its chance, though it fhould not be thought by fome (who may not abound in good nature) that I only mean by this, to pay due regard to the merit of the piece, though it fpeaks for itfelf; for, without extraordinary merit in the writing, it could never have gained fuch an uncommon run, at the distance of fourfcore years. from its being firft written, when moft of those * T. C. pieces were forgot which it particularly fatirifes; or, if remembered, they were laughed into fame by the ftrong mock-parodies with which this humorous piece of admirable burlesque abounds. Mr. Dryden, in revenge for the ridicule thrown on him in this piece, expofed the duke under the name of Zimri in his Abfalom and Achitophel. This character, drawn by Dryden, is reckoned a masterpiece; it has the first beauty, which is truth; it is a ftriking picture, and admirably marked: "We need make no apology for inferting it here; it is too excellent to pass unnoticed. In the firft rank of thefe did Zimri stand Befides ten thousand freaks that died in thinking. That every man with him was God, or devil., Beggar'd by fools, whom ftill he found too late, He laught himself from court, then fought re By forming parties, but could ne'er be chief. 1 |