Into the melting-pot when Dryden comes, fumes! How will he fhrink, when all his lewd allay, And wicked mixture, fhall be purg'd away! Thus ftands the paffage in the last edition; but in the original there was an abatement of the cenfure, beginning thus: But what remains will be fo pure, 'twill bear Th' examination of the most severe. Blackmore, finding the cenfure refented, and the civility difregarded, ungenerously omitted the softer part. Such variations dif cover a writer who confults his paffions more than his virtue; and it may be reasonably fuppofed that Dryden imputes his enmity to its true caufe. Of Milbourne he wrote only in general terms, such as are always ready at the call of anger, whether juft or not: a fhort extract will be fufficient. He pretends à quarrel to me, that I have fallen foul upon priefthood; if I have, I am only to ask pardon of good priests, and am afraid bis fhare of the reparation will come to little. Let him be fatisfied that he VOL. II. Shall H fhall never be able to force himself upon me for an adverfary; I contemn him too much to enter into competition with him. As for the rest of those who have written against me, they are fuch fcoundrels that they deferve not the leaft notice to be taken of them. Blackmore and Milbourne are only diftinguished from the crowd by being remembered to their infamy. Dryden indeed discovered, in many of his writings, an affected and absurd malignity to priests and priesthood, which naturally raised him many enemies, and which was fometimes as unfeasonably resented as it was exerted. Trapp is angry that he calls the facrificer in the Georgicks the holy butcher: the translation is indeed ridiculous; but Trapp's anger arifes from his zeal, not for the author, but the priest; as if any reproach of the follies of paganism could be extended to the preachers of truth. Dryden's diflike of the priesthood is imputed by Langbaine, and I think by Brown, to a repulfe which he fuffered when he fo licited licited ordination; but he denies, in the preface to his Fables, that he ever defigned to enter into the church; and fuch a denial he would not have hazarded, if he could have been convicted of falsehood. Malevolence to the clergy is feldom at a great distance from irreverence of religion, and Dryden affords no exception to this obfervation. His writings exhibit many pasfages, which, with all the allowance that can be made for characters and occafions, are fuch as piety would not have admitted, and fuch as may vitiate light and unprincipled minds. But there is no reason for supposing that he disbelieved the religion which he difobeyed. He forgot his duty rather than difowned it. His tendency to profanenefs is the effect of levity, negligence, and loofe conversation, with a defire of accommodating himself to the corruption of the times, by venturing to be wicked as far as he durft. When he profeffed himself a convert to Popery, he did not pretend to have received any new conviction of the fundamental doctrines of Chriftianity. The perfecution of criticks was not the worft of his vexations; he was much more disturbed by the importunities of want. His complaints of poverty are fo frequently repeated, either with the dejection of weaknefs finking in endless mifery, or the indignation of merit claiming its tribute from mankind, that it is impoffible not to deteft the age which could impofe on fuch a man the neceffity of fuch folicitations, or not to despise the man who could fubmit to fuch folicitations without neceffity. Whether by the world's neglect, or his own imprudence, I am afraid that the greatest part of his life was paffed in exigencies. Such outcries were furely never uttered but in severe pain. Of his fupplies or his expences no probable estimate can now be made. Except the falary of the Laureate, to which king James added the office of Hiftoriographer, perhaps with fome additional emoluments, his whole revenue feems to have been cafual and it is well known that he feldom lives frugally who lives by chance. Hope is al ways ways liberal, and they that truft her promifes make little fcruple of revelling to-day on the profits of the morrow. Of his plays the profit was not great, and of the produce of his other works very little intelligence can be had. By difcourfing with the late amiable Mr. Tonfon, I could not find that any memorials of the tranfactions between his predeceffor and Dryden had been preferved, except the following papers: "I do hereby promise to pay John Dry"den, Efq; or order, on the 25th of March "1699, the fum of two hundred and fifty guineas, in confideration of ten thousand "verses, which the faid John Dryden, Efq; "is to deliver to me Jacob Tonfon, when finished, whereof seven thousand five hun"dred verses, more or lefs, are already in "the faid Jacob Tonfon's poffeffion. And "I do hereby farther promise, and engage myself, to make up the faid fum of two "hundred and fifty guineas three hundred "pounds fterling to the said John Dryden, Efq; his executors, adminiftrators, or af 66 |