play's being hissed off the first night is a mistake.-The same.

The Rehearsal, one of the best pieces of criticism that ever was, and Butler's inimitable poem of Hudibras, must be quite lost to the readers in a century more, if not soon well commented. Tonson has a good key to the former, but refuses to print it, because he had been so much obliged to Dryden.-The same.

In one of Dryden's plays there was this line, which the actress endeavoured to speak in as moving and affecting a tone as she could:

"My wound is great-because it is so small." and then she paused, and looked very distressed. The Duke of Buckingham, who was in one of the boxes, rose immediately from his seat, and added in a loud ridiculing tone of voice

"Then 'twould be greater, were it none at all." which had such an effect on the audience, who before were not very well pleased with the play, that they hissed the poor woman off the stage, would never bear her ap

pearance in the rest of her part, and as this was the second time only of its appearance, made Dryden lose his benefit night.. Lockier.

The witty Duke of Buckingham was an extreme bad man. His duel with Lord Shrewsbury was concerted between him and Lady Shrewsbury. All that morning she was trembling for her gallant, and wishing for the death of her husband; and after his fall, it is said, the Duke lay with her in his bloody shirt.-Mr. Pope.

ROCHESTER.

Lord Rochester* was of a very bad turn of mind, as well as debauched.-The same. (From the Duke of Buckingham, and others that knew him.)

Oldham is a very indelicate writer; he has strong rage, but it is too much like Billingsgate. Lord Rochester had much more delicacy, and more knowledge of mankind.-The same.

Rochester has very bad versification some* See P. 89.

times.-The same. [He instances this from his 10th satire of Horace, his full rhymes, &c.]

DORSET.

Lord Dorset's things are all excellent in their way; for one should consider his pieces as a sort of epigrams. Wit was his talent*.-The same.

He and Lord Rochester should be considered as holiday writers, as gentlemen that diverted themselves now and then with poetry, rather than as poets.-The same. [This was said kindly of them, rather to excuse their defects, than to lessen their characters.]

Lord Dorset used to say of a very goodnatured dull fellow, it is a thousand pities that man is not ill-natured, that we might kick him out of company.-The same.

"Are there not several of Lord Dorset's pieces to be met with in the state poems ?" -Yes; I have met with two or three in dipping about this volume (vol. iii.) already. * See p. 89.

CREECH.

Creech hurt his translation of Lucretius very much by imitating Cowley, and bringing in turns even into some of the most grand parts. He has done more justice to Manilius* than he has to Lucretius.-"That was much easier to do."-That is trueNo, he could never be of the high age (speaking of Manilius.)—Mr. Pope.

DRYDEN.

Dryden has assured me that he got more from the Spanish critics alone than from the Italian and French, and all others put together.-Lord Bolingbroke.

Even Dryden was very suspicious of rivals. He would compliment Crown, when a play of his failed, but was cold to him if he met with success. He sometimes used to own that Crown had some genius, but

* Creech did not translate Manilius. The translation of that poet was made by Sir Edward Sherburne, I think.-M.

then he always added, that his father and Crown's mother were very well acquainted. -Old Jacob Tonson.

my

I was about seventeen when I first came to town; an odd looking boy, with short rough hair, and that sort of awkwardness which one always brings up first out of the country with one. However, in spite of bashfulness and appearance, I used now and then to thrust myself into Will's, to have the pleasure of seeing the most celebrated wits of that time, who used to resort thither. The second time that ever I was there, Mr. Dryden was speaking of his own things, as he frequently did, especially of such as had been lately published. "If any thing of mine is good," says he, "it is my Mac-Fleckno; and I shall value myself the more on it, because it is the first piece of ridicule written in heroics." Lockier overhearing this, plucked up his spirit so far as to say in a voice just loud enough to be heard, that Mac-Fleckno was a very fine poem, but that he had not imagined it