John Dryden was born at Aldwincle, near Oundle, Auguft the 9th, 1631, and on his father's death came into poffeffion of an eftate of 200l. per ann. He is faid to have been bred an anabaptift, and this may in fome measure excuse the praises he has bestowed on Oliver. It redounds to a man's honour to fee his errors, and renounce them: there cannot be a ftronger proof of judgment and integrity, and we have no reafon to doubt Dryden's being afterwards zealously attached to the Stuart's family, through duty as well as gratitude.

He was bred at Westminster-school, under the great Doctor Bufby, being entered a king's fcholar: while here he wrote the poem on lord Haftings's death, which is the firft in this collection, and tranflated the Third Satire of Perfius, for a Thursday night's exercife. The latter is much the better performance; and it is not unlikely that he retouched it before he permitted it to be published. He fays, he believes he left several other poetical exercises in the hands of his learned preceptor. In 1650 he was elected thence a fcholar of Trinity-college, Cambridge. His heroic ftanzas on the death of the Lord Protector, appeared in 1658; and on the reftoration he published a poem called Aftrea Redux; with another on king Charles the Second's Coronation. On New-year's day 1662, he prefented a poem to lord chancellor Hyde; and the fame year wrote a loose fatire on the Dutch, the first twenty-four lines of which he afterwards prefixed as a prologue to his play of Amboina, with an addition of the ten laft lines. The conclufion of this fatire, beginning

To one well-born th' affront is worse, &c.

introduced by four new lines, ferve here as an epilogue.

His firft play was a comedy called the Wild Gallant, the plot of which, he fays, was not originally his own. It was but cooly received, and this convinced him, that for a first attempt in dramatic poetry, co

medy, which is the most difficult part of it, was a bold one. I fuppofe it might have been exhibited in 1663; as his fecond performance of this kind, being a tragi-comedy intitled the Rival Ladies, was brought out in 1664, and published with a dedication to the great Roger earl of Orrery; in which he ftands forth as an advocate for writing plays in rhyme. Here he obferves, that before the days of Shakespear, lord Buckhurst had written a play in rhyme, entituled, Queen Gorboduc, whereas it was King Gorboduc, the compofition blank verfe; and only the two laft acts were written by that eminent nobleman; the author of the three first acts being one Mr. Thomas Norton. These are oversights, in which Langbaine, who miffes no opportunity of ufing our author with afperity, triumphs prodigioufly. His arguments were controverted by Sir Robert Howard, in a preface to a volume containing fome dramatic pieces; and defended by him in his effay on Dramatic Poefy, which was printed in 1668. A reply to this defence appeared before Sir Robert's Duke of Lerma, and an answer to it is prefixed to our author's Indian Emperor. Here I believe the difpute dropp'd; in keeping up of which Dryden was not fo much to blame, as Langbane in his lives of the Dramatic Poets would fain infinuate; for Sir Robert was certainly the aggreffor.

The gentleman laft mentioned affifted our author in writing a tragedy called the Indian Queen, which was acted with applause in 1665. In the fummer of this year he presented the dutchess of York with a copy of verses on the fignal victory gained by the duke her husband over the Hollanders at fea, and on her grace's journey into the north.

His fourth play, called the tragedy of the Indian Emperor, or the Conqueft of Mexico by the Spaniards, being the fequel of the Indian Queen, was exhibited in October 1667, and met with prodigious fuccefs. It is written in heroic verfe or rhyme

and dedicated to the dutchefs of Monmouth and Buccleugh.

Sir William D'Avenant joined with Dryden in altering Shakespear's Tempeft. It was prefented, with the additional name of the Inchanted Ifland, at the duke's theatre in 1667, as appears from the epilogue, and greatly approved of. We are informed in the preface, that the humour of the failors was of Sir William's writing; and that he invented the character of Hippolito, who never faw a woman, to match with Miranda in Shakespear's Tempeft, who never faw a

man.

Sir William D'Avenant dying in April 1668, our author fucceeded him as poet-laureat and hiftoriographer to the king.

An Evening's Love, or the Mock Aftrologer, a comedy, was exhibited at the theatre royal in 1671, and dedicated to the romantic writing duke of Newcastle; before it we find a preface, in which the author difcourses upon comedy and farce, and their difference; paffes fome ftrictures upon Ben. Jonson, and then proceeds to defend poets in plagiarism and imitation, when made to good purpose. His arguments on this head are candid and judicious. It was in this memorable year, that the duke of Buckingham fatirized him fo feverely in the play of the Rehearsal, under the name of Bayes: this character was originally called Bilboa, and intended for Sir Robert Howard; but the knight was deprived of the compliment by the breaking out of the plague, whereby the exhibition of the piece, which was finifhed in 1665, was prevented. It must be owned, the ridicule is in many places just and striking, though Mr. Dryden affects to treat it with great contempt, particularly in the dedication of his tranflations from Juvenal and Perfius to the earl of Dorset, fee vol. iv. of this edit. p. 163, near the bottom. The plays of our author ridiculed in this whimsical performance, are, the Wild Gallant; Tyrannic Love; the Conqueft of

Grenada, both parts; Marriage A-la-Mode; and Love in a Nunnery.

Tyrannic Love, or the Royal Martyr, is written in rhyme, and dedicated to the duke of Monmouth. We are told in the preface that it was finished in feven weeks, with an intention" to prove, against the ene"mies of the stage, that patterns of piety decently

represented and equally removed from the extremes "of fuperftition and prophanenefs, may be of excel"lent use to second the precepts of religion." The plot of this tragedy being the martyrdom of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, is taken from Herodian and other hiftorians.

To the first part of the Conqueft of Grenada, there is prefixed an effay on Heroic Plays; and the fecond part is followed by a defence of the epilogue, or an essay on the Dramatic Poetry of the preceding age, in which epilogue he is fevere upon Ben. Jonfon. These two plays were attacked by one Richard Leigh, an actor of the duke of York's company, in a pamphlet, entitled, "A. Censure of the Rota of "Mr. Dryden's Conqueft of Grenada." This was anfwered by "The friendly Vindication of Mr.Dry"den from the cenfure of the Rota. Camb. 1673, 4to. "Mr. Dryden vindicated, in anfwer to the Friendly "Vindication, &c. Lond,4to. 1673. A Description of "the Academy of the Athenian Virtuofi, 4to. Lond.

1673." It was also abused in 1674 by Elkanah Settle, in a 4to pamphlet, entitled, "Notes and In"terpretations on the Emprefs of Morocco, revised, "with fome few erratas to be printed inftead of the

cr

postscript, with the next edition of the Conqueft " of Grenada;" and I fancy this is the fame pamphlet mentioned in the Biographia Britannia,under the name of "Reflections on feveral of Mr. Dryden's plays, "particularly on the first and fecond parts of the "Conqueft of Grenada, by E. Settle, gent. Lond, "1687, 4to."

VOL. I.

Settle's Empress of Morocco was performed at the duke's theatre in 1673, and published afterwards with cuts. Some expreffions in the preface having made Dryden very angry, he published a 4to pamphlet, called "Notes and Obfervations on the Empress of "Morocco, or fome few erratas to be printed in" ftead of the sculptures with the fecond edition of "the play." In this piece he has treated Settle with a good deal of fcurrility, and the latter has not failed to return it, in his reply above mentioned.

Dryden was fenfible that both parts of the Conqueft of Grenada lay very open to cenfure; for in the preface to the Spanish Fryar, written fome years after, he fays, "I remember fome verses of my own Almanfor "cry vengeance upon me for their extravagance; "all I can fay for those paffages, which are, I hope, "not many, is that I knew they were bad enough to "please even when I writ them." Here we fee he charges his failings upon the depraved tafte of the age, and will not admit them to be laid to the account of his own judgment.

Lord Lanfdown thus feconds him in his effay concerning unnatural Flights in Poetry.

"Dryden himself, to please a frantic age, "Was forc'd to let his judgment stoop to rage; "To a wild audience he conform'd his voice, "Comply'd by custom, but not err'd by choice, "Deem then the people's, not the writer's fin, "Almanfor's rage, and rants of Maximin. "That fury spent ; in each laborious piece "He vies for fame with antient Rome and Greece."

Marriage A-la-mode is a tragi-comedy, or rather a play made up of two actions; the one serious, the other comic, and not fo ftrongly interwoven, but that they may easily be taken afunder, without much damage being done to either. It is dedicated to the witty earl of Rochefter, who I fuppofe, made an ade