him off; after which comes up one of their admirals, and faf"tened a fecond firefhip, with which the grappled long, but at "laft took fire in one of her quarters, which yet she happily quenched. After this a third firefhip was laid on her, which "difabled as she was, fhe fo mauled with her chace-pieces, that "fhe cut short her main-yard, and fo escaped him. She had fe"veral of her men killed and wounded; amongst these latter is "the captain himself, but it is hoped without danger. The "fleet is in a very good condition, not one of our veffels having "been taken." Stanza 175. Capt. Hollis, of the Antelope fhip of war, loft a hand in this memorable fight: to his writings I confefs myself a stranger. I believe it is the fame person who commanded the Cambridge under the name of Sir Fretchville Hollis, in 1672, when he was killed in another fea-fight with the Dutch. Neptune -With his trident show'd them off the fand. Levat ipfe tridenti, et vaftas aperit syrtes. Virg. And feeming to be stronger makes them so. Poffunt, quia poffe videntur. Virg. As Varro timely flying once, &c. Terentius Varro being defeated by Hannibal at Canne, wrote to the fenate that he did not however defpair of the republic; in confequence of which the fenate voted him thanks.“ Quia "de republica non defperaffet." See the 23d book of Livy. -the Belgians did retire Before the patron faint of injur'd Spain. This victory was completed on the twenty-fifth day of July, a day facred to St. James the great, patron of Spain, which nation our author calls injured, inafinuch the Hollanders had rebelled against King Philip II. being aided by Queen Elizabeth : and the next stanza refers to this transaction, for which the poet fuppofes us now to have atoned. The monarchy mentioned in the 199th ftanza is Spain, with which Queen Elizabeth had been long at variance, when, in our author's opinion, we overlocked the growing power of France and Holland, which merited much more our attention. Stanza 204, &c. This and the five following stanzas celebrate Sir Robert Holmes? having burned the Dutch fleet at Uly, as related in our note on ftanza 167. . Stanza 209. The reft of this poem defcribes the fire of London, and commemorates the noble behavior of the king and his brother, during the time of the conflagration. thou didst expire Great as the world, which at the death of time, -In fatis reminifcitur, affore tempus Quo mare, quo tellus, correptaq; regia cœli Ardeat, &c. the fire fmouldering as it went. Ovid. Metamor. To smoulder, fignifies to burn without vent. no longer letted of his prey. Jobnfon's Dict. To lett, is an old English word used in the place of, to hinder. Thus Hamlet, when with-held by his friends from following his father's ghoft, cries out, "Away, I fayunhand me, gentlemen By heaven I'll make a ghost of him that letts me.” Simois, a river running by Troy, which in the conflagration of that unfortunate city, may be fuppofed to have been affected by the fire. But 1 But freight like Turks forc'd on, &c. The Turks are not only predeftinarians, but they also believe that every man, who dies fighting against unbelievers, for fo they call all who differ from them in religion, goes directly to Paradife. These tenets often encourage thofe to fight who have no great ftomachs to it; and, in this fenfe, they may be faid to be forced on. The fugitive flames chaftis'd, went forth to prey By which to heaven they did affect the way, Ere faith in churchmen without works was heard. This paffage is a farcafm upon those who reduce all principles of religion to the fingle article of faith, which, according to fome, is fufficient for falvation, exclufive of every other tenet. Nor could thy fabric, Paul's, defend thee long. Mr. Waller addreffes a poem to King Charles I. upon that monarch's repairing the old cathedral of St. Paul's. Sir John Denham has bestowed fome verses on the same subject, in the beginning of his Cooper's Hill. The father of the people open'd wide His fores, and all the poor with plenty fed. The poor people that were burned out, built huts and fheds of boards for shelter in Moorfields, and other outlets of the city; and the king was often seen among them, enquiring into their wants, and doing every thing in his power to comfort them. He moreover ordered the justices of the peace to see them fupplied with food, and to be careful of preventing foreftallers from taking advantage of their diftreffes; befides which he commanded, that the biscuits, and other provifions, laid up in the Tower for the ufe of his army and navy, should be carried out, and diftributed among them. Enjoying fuch benefits from his royal prefence, we are not to wonder at the citizens begging him not to leave them, when it was fuppofed he was going into the country. Vide Stanza 288. Not with more conftancy, the Jews of old By Cyrus, from rewarded exile fent; Their royal city did in duft behold, Or with more vigor to rebuild it went. Cyrus the Great, king of Perfia, having taken Babylon, by turning the course of the river Euphrates, laid the foundation of VOL. I. the Perfian monarchy, and fet the Jews at liberty after a captivity of seventy years. On their return home, they fet about rebuilding the city and temple of Jerusalem. Now frequent trines the happier lights among. The word trine is applied to a triangular conjunction of planets, in which they are fuppofed, by aftrologers, to be eminently benign and fuch an afpect, our author prophecies, fhall fucceed to the ill ftars that have lately prefided over us. Methinks already from this, &c. "London foon rose more beautiful from its afhes. The king, "by a stretch of the prerogative power, regulated the plans of "the new streets, so as to render them more spacious and conve❝nient than those which had been burned; and he prohibited "the use of lath and timber, as materials for the conftruction of "the houfes. The narrowness of the streets had not only sub"jected them to cafualties of this nature, but also prevented a "free circulation of air, which, being impregnated with animal vapours, was apt to putrify, and produce infectious diftempers, "infomuch that London was fcarce ever free from a contagion ; "whereas, no fuch diftemper has appeared fince the city was re"built. "The fire of London was faid to be the effect of malicious de"fign, and varioufly imputed to the Roman catholics and the "republicans, as the stream of prejudice happened to run; tho' "it does not appear how such a scheme could contribute to the "intereft of either party. The populace generally exclaimed against the catholics as the authors of this conflagration. `The "parliament appointed a committee to make a fevere fcrutiny on "this fubject, but nothing appeared to the prejudice of the Pa"pifts; yet the mischief is charged upon them, in the inscription engraved on the pillar that was erected as a monument of this calamity." Smallett's Hift. of England. Which Mr. Pope fays, "Like a tall bully lifts its head, and lies." the Cape once doubled, fear no more : A conftant trade-wind will fecurely blow. Sailors generally imagine themselves out of danger on an EaftIndia voyage, when they double the Cape of Good-Hope, because then they get into the trade-winds, or monfoons, that always blow in a certain direction. Before we difmifs the notes upon this poem, we must observe, that we have found it inferior to all Dryden's subsequent works : his images are, in many places, low, even to burlesque. For example, Can any thing be meaner than his introducing God putting out the fire of London with an extinguisher? or, his defcription of the fhips repairing in port? Nay, in his fimilies there are fome good fpecimens of the bathos; yet his poetical genius, every now and then, breaks out with fuch force, as to pay us with interest for our foregoing toil. The course of his hunted hare, stanza 131, 132, makes ample amends for the murthering cannon that Speak thick like angry men; and his eagle in her flight, stanza 107, covers a multitude of imperfections. TH An Effay on Satire. HIS piece was written in 1679, and handed about in ma-nuscript some time before it made its appearance in print. It is fuppofed to have occafioned the beating Mr. Dryden received in Rose-street, Covent Garden, of which we have taken notice in his life. The earl of Mulgrave's name has been always joined with Dryden's, as concerned in the compofition; and that nobleman fomewhere takes notice, that Dryden Was prais'd and beaten for another's rhymes. It is not improbable, that Rochester's character was drawn by his lordship, who held him in high contempt, after his behaving in a very daftardly manner when he challenged him. How, indeed, Lord Mulgrave came to subscribe to so disagreeable a picture of himself, is hard to divine. Morals to Armstrong ordull Afton teach? Sir Thomas Armstrong had been knighted by King Charles II. for fome services received from him during the protectorship, he having been fent over to his majesty, when in Holland, with a fum of money, raised among fome of his faithful subjects, for his royal ufe. He afterwards bore a lieutenant-colonel's commiffion in the first troop of horse-guards, and was appointed gentleman of horse to the king. Being a man of a loose immoral character and of no fixed principles, either in religion or politics, he joined in the Ryehoufe-Plot, and then efcaped into Holland. Five hundred pounds were offered as a reward for taking him. Lewis ; |