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was successful, and he was returning home on horseback by way of London, when he was caught in a drenching rain, and arrived in an exhausted condition at the house of his friend Mr. Strudwick, a grocer in Holborn. Here he was seized with fever, and after ten days' illness he died, on the 31st Aug., 1688. He was buried in Bunhill cemetry, where his tomb may still be seen.

The Pilgrim's Progress is perhaps the most popular book in the English language; it has gone through innumerable editions, and has been translated into most of the languages of Europe. It is written in such a simple style that every one can understand it; there is scarcely an expression which would puzzle the most ignorant reader, and it is as intelligible to a child as a nursery story. And yet simple as the language is, it is fully equal to the demands made upon it. As Macaulay remarks: "for magnificence, for pathos, for vehement exhortation, for subtle disquisition, for every purpose of the poet, the orator, and the divine, this homely dialect, the dialect of plain working men, was sufficient." Another source of its popularity is the charm of the story. Though it is an allegory, the several characters are brought so vividly before us, that they look not like abstractions, but living realities. This arises no doubt from the creative power of Bunyan's intense imagination. saw vividly what he describes, and thus his readers see vividly. It has been well said that the book pleases the child by the charm of its simple pictorial story; it instructs the mature Christian by its theology, while its genius captivates the man of letters.

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JOHN DRYDEN.-1631-1700.

THE four greatest poets in English Literature are Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, and Milton; the first place in the second rank of our poets is generally assigned to Dryden. He was born at Aldwinkle, in Northamptonshire, in

Aug. 1631, and was the eldest of fourteen children. He was educated at Westminster School, under Dr. Bushby, and afterwards proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge. He stayed at the university for three or four years after taking his degree, for the sake of quiet study; but he does not seem to have obtained a Fellowship. On leaving Cambridge, he proceeded to the metropolis to make his way in the world. His relatives were all Puritans, and ardent supporters of the Commonwealth, and the first poem which Dryden published contained stanzas on the death of Cromwell. A year later he wrote congratulatory verses on the Restoration.

As Dryden had now deserted his party, there was a coldness between him and his family, and he took up his abode with Herringham, a bookseller of some note in London. Among the literary men who frequented the house was Sir Robert Howard, son of the Earl of Berkshire. With him, the poet visited the earl's seat at Charlton, where he assisted Howard in writing a tragedy called The Indian Queen. He at the same time became acquainted with Sir Robert's sister, Lady Elizabeth, whom he married in 1663. The marriage, however, brought him neither wealth nor happiness. On one occasion, when his wife wished she were a book in order that she might enjoy more of his company, Dryden was unpolite enough to remark: "Be an almanac then, my dear, that I may change you at the end of the year."

It was about this time that Dryden began to write for the stage. His first piece, a comedy, called The Wild Gallant, was not very successful, but The Indian Emperor, which appeared in 1667, and which was intended as a sequel to Howard's "Indian Queen," was well received. Shortly after this, the poet entered into an engagement with the king's players, to write three pieces each year, for which he was to receive a certain share of the profits, amounting to about £300 per annum. He did not, however, fulfil his share of the contract, as he only produced about eighteen plays in sixteen years. There is not much to regret in this; Dryden's plays are perhaps among his

least successful compositions. They were written to suit the vitiated taste of the court of Charles II., and were founded on the French dramatic school. At first the tragedies and comedies were written in rhyme, but at length Dryden returned to the old English school of blank verse.

In 1667, he published a long poem, entitled Annus Mirabilis, the Year of Wonders, being an account of the events of the preceding year, including the great fire of London, and the engagements in the Dutch war. In the following year appeared a prose work, an Essay on Dramatic Poesy. The main object of the essay is to vindicate the use of rhyme in tragedy-a position which Dryden afterwards abandoned; but apart from this, its main object, the essay has considerable merit, and the sketches of Shakespeare, Jonson, and other English dramatists which it contains, have been much admired. His prose may rank with the best in the language; it is easy, natural, and graceful; it is spirited and lively, but dignified when dignity is becoming. In 1670, Dryden was appointed poet-laureate and royal historiographer, with a salary of £200 per annum.

Dryden was now at the summit of his fame and prosperity, and was the most conspicuous writer of the day, both in poetry and prose; but his success excited envy, and among those whose hostility he incurredbesides a host of disappointed rivals,-were the powerful courtiers, the Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of Rochester. Buckingham, with the assistance of Butler and some other writers, brought out a play called the Rehearsal, which sought at once to assail the use of rhyme in dramatic composition, and to damage the reputation of Dryden, the great champion of the practice. The poet, under the name of Bayes, was caricatured on the stage, and not content with parodying some of the most striking passages from his dramas, Buckingham carefully instructed the actor who took the part, to mimic Dryden in his dress, mode of speech, and deportment. The town was highly amused during the

winter of 1671 with the play, which filled a rival theatre night after night. Dryden bore the attack in silence, but he afterwards repaid Buckingham with interest in Absalom and Achitophel.

Rochester sought to annoy the laureate by patronising a man of little merit, named Elkanah Settle. This writer brought out a play called the " Emperor of Morocco," which was puffed and applauded by Rochester and his friends, and was acted at Whitehall by the court ladies. Dryden was foolish enough to notice the performance, and wrote a savage criticism upon it. When Settle was disposed of, other rivals were encouraged by Rochester, and this probably induced Dryden to retaliate. At any rate, a poem entitled an Essay on Satire, appeared towards the close of 1679, in which Rochester was severely handled, and he, suspecting the work to be Dryden's, hired some ruffians who waylaid and beat the poet as he was returning one night from Will's coffee-house.

At this time political feeling ran very high in England. The Earl of Shaftesbury had brought forward a bill to exclude the Duke of York from succeeding to the throne, on the ground that he had declared himself a Roman Catholic. Shaftesbury was supported by the whole whig party, who put forward the claims of the Duke of Monmouth. Charles II. showed unwonted firmness on this occasion, and thrice dissolved parliament in order to defeat the bill. The political agitation of the country of course affected the current literature. The press teemed with political pamphlets, and the theatre was turned into an arena for the contest of political parties. Under these circumstances it was impossible for the poet-laureate to remain neutral, and it is said that it was at the king's suggestion that he took part in the controversy. The result was the publication of Absalom and Achitophel, which appeared in Nov. 1681. In this poem the leaders of the opposition are described under the names of those who took part in Absalom's rebellion against David. Absalom himself is the Duke of Monmouth; Achitophel

is Shaftesbury, Zimri is Buckingham. The parallel is carried out to the minutest details, and displays wonderful skill. As a political satire, this poem is perhaps the finest in the language. The success was complete: it passed through five editions within a year.

Not long before the publication of the satire, Shaftes bury had been committed to the Tower on a charge of high treason; but the grand jury having refused to find a true bill against him, he was acquitted. To celebrate this victory the whig party had a medal struck, having on one side the head of Shaftesbury, and on the other a view of London from the old bridge, with the sun rising over the Tower. This afforded Dryden a fresh subject, and in March 1682 appeared the Medal, a bitter lampoon on Shaftesbury. Elkanah Settle wrote a reply to this, and Dryden therefore introduced him and another opponent, named Shadwell, into the second part of Absalom and Achithophel, under the characters of Og and Doeg; and he inflicted further chastisement upon Shadwell in a satire called Mac Fiecknoe, which appeared in October following.

The publication of these satires had an immense influence on the public mind, and no doubt materially strengthened the tory party. Dryden, however, was but ill requited for his services. In 1680, his salary as poet laureate had been nominally raised to £300, but it was paid so irregularly that at the death of Charles four years of it were in arrear. James, on his accession, ignored his brother's addition of £100 per annum, and also stopped the laureate's butt of wine. For a whole

year Dryden was only paid the original salary of the laureateship; but in March 1686, the increase was recognised by the king and added, by letters patent, to the pension. A few months later, Dryden avowed his conversion to the Romish Church, and, under the circumstances, many at the time looked with suspicion upon the change of religion. Those, however, who have fully investigated the whole subject, see no reason to doubt the poet's sincerity.

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