lier's rudeness, and the horse-play of bis raillery; and afferts that in many places he has perverted by his gloffes the meaning of what he cenfures; but in other things he confeffes that he is juftly taxed; and fays, with great calmness and candour, I have pleaded guilty to all thoughts or expreffions of mine that can be truly accused of obfcenity, immorality, or profaneness, and retract them. If he be my enemy, let him triumph; if he be my friend, be will be glad of my repentance. Yet, as our beft difpofitions are imperfect, he left standing in the fame book a reflection on Collier of great afperity, and indeed of more afperity than wit.

Blackmore he reprefents as made his enemy by the poem of Abfalom and Achitophel, which he thinks a little bard upon his fanatick patrons; and charges him with borrowing the plan of his Arthur from the preface to Juvenal, though he had, fays he, the bafeness not to acknowledge his benefactor, but instead of it to traduce me in a libel.

The libel in which Blackmore traduced him was a Satire upon Wit; in which, having lamented the exuberance of falfe wit and the deficiency of true, he proposes that all wit fhould be re-coined before it is current, and appoints mafters of affay who shall reject all that is light or debased.

'Tis true, that when the coarse and worthless drofs

Is purg'd away, there will be mighty lofs;

Ev'n Congreve, Southern, manly Wycherley,
When thus refin'd, will grievous fufferers be;
Into the melting-pot when Dryden comes,

What horrid ftench will rife, what noifome fumes!
How will he fhrink, when all his lewd allay,

And wicked mixture, fhall be purg'd away!

Thus

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 fofter part. Such variations difcover a writer who confults his paffions more than his virtue; and it may be reafonably fuppofed that Dryden imputes his enmity to its true cause.

Of Milbourne he wrote only in general terms, fuch as are always ready at the call of anger, whether just or not a short extract will be fufficient. He pretends a quarrel to me, that I have fallen foul upon priesthood; 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 shall never be able to force kimfelf 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 scoundrels 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 difcovered, in many of his writings, an affected and abfurd malignity to priefts and priesthood, which naturally raised him many enemies, and which was fometimes as unfeasonably refented as it was exerted. Trapp is angry that he calls the facrificer in the Georgicks the holy butcher: the tranflation is indeed ridiculous; but Trapp's anger arifes from his zeal, not for the author, but the prieft; as if any reproach of Bb 2 the

the follies of paganifm 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 folicited 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 diftance from irreverence of religion, and Dryden affords no exception to this obfervation. His writings exhibit many paffages, which, with all the allowance that can be made for characters and occafions, are fuch as piety would not have admitted, and such as may vitiate light and unprincipled minds. But there is no reafon for fuppofing that he believed the religion which he difobeyed. He forgot his duty rather than difowned it. His tendency to profaneness is the effect of levity, negligence, and loofe converfation, with a defire of accommodating himfelf 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 worst of his vexations; he was much more difturbed by the impor'tunities of want. His complaints of poverty are fo frequently repeated, either with the dejection of weaknefs finking in helpless mifery, or the indignation of merit claiming its, tribute from mankind, that it is impoffible not to deteft the age which could impofe on fich a man the neceffity of fuch folicitations, or not to defpife

defpife 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 exigences. Such outcries were furely never uttered but in fevere pain. Of his fupplies or his expences no probable estimate can now be made. Except the falary of the Laureat, 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 always 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:

6.6

"I do hereby promife to pay John Dryden, Efq; or order, on the 25th of March 1699; the fum of two hundred and fifty guineas, in confideration of "ten thoufand verfes, which the faid John Dryden, "Efq; is to deliver to me Jacob Tonfon, when finished, whereof feven thoufand five hundred verfes,

66

more or less, are already in the faid Jacob Tonfon's "poffeffion. And I do hereby farther promife, and engage myself, to make up the faid fum of two hun"dred and fifty guineas three hundred pounds fterling "to the faid John Dryden, Efq; his executors, ad"miniftrators, or affigns, at the beginning of the fe"cond impreffion of the faid ten thoufand verfes.

"In witness whereof I have hereunto fet my hand "and feal, this 20th day of March, 169.

"Sealed and delivered, being first "duly ftampt, pursuant to the acts "of parliament for that purpose, "in the prefence of

"Ben. Portlock.

"Jacob Tonfon.

"Will. Congreve."

"March 24th, 1698.

"Received then of Mr. Jacob Tonfon the fum of "two hundred fixty-eight pounds fifteen fhillings, in

pursuance of an agreement for, ten thoufand verfes, "to be delivered by me to the faid Jacob Tonfon, "whereof I have already delivered to him about seven "thousand five hundred, more or lefs; he the faid "Jacob Tonfon being obliged to make up the forefaid "fum of two hundred fixty-eight pounds fifteen fhil"lings three hundred pounds, at the beginning of the "fecond impreffion of the forefaid ten thousand verfes; "I fay, received by me

"Witness Charles Dryden."

"John Dryden.

Two hundred and fifty guineas, at 17. 1s. 6d. is 2681. 155.

It is manifest from the dates of this contract, that it relates to the volume of Fables, which contains about twelve thousand verses, and for which therefore the payment must have been afterwards enlarged.

I have been told of another letter yet remaining, in which he defires Tonfon to bring him money, to pay for a watch which he had ordered for his fon, and which the maker would not leave without the price.

The