Lives Of The Poets, Vol. 1 (fiscle part-III) by Samuel Johnson (best beach reads TXT) 📖

An Anthem Ready Set,

And Himself Waiting, For Some Time, Without Any Corpse To Bury. The

Undertaker, After Three Days' Expectance Of Orders For Embalment Without

Receiving any, Waited on The Lord Jefferies; Who, Pretending ignorance Of

The Matter, Turned it Off With An Ill-Natured jest, Saying, That Those

Who Observed the Orders Of A Drunken Frolick Deserved no Better; That He

Remembered nothing at All Of It; And That He Might Do What He Pleased

With The Corpse. Upon This, The Undertaker Waited upon The Lady Elizabeth

And Her Son, And Threatened to Bring the Corpse Home, And Set It Before

The Door. They Desired a Day'S Respite, Which Was Granted. Mr. Charles

Dryden Wrote A Handsome Letter To The Lord Jefferies, Who Returned it

With This Cool Answer: 'That He Knew Nothing of The Matter, And Would Be

Troubled no More About It.' He Then Addressed the Lord Halifax And The

Bishop Of Rochester, Who Absolutely Refused to Do Any Thing in it. In

This Distress Dr. Garth Sent For The Corpse To The College Of Physicians,

And Proposed a Funeral By Subscription, To Which Himself Set A Most Noble

Example. At Last, A Day, About Three Weeks After Mr. Dryden'S Decease,

Was Appointed for The Interment. Dr. Garth Pronounced a Fine Latin

Oration, At The College, Over The Corpse; Which Was Attended to The Abbey

By A Numerous Train Of Coaches. When The Funeral Was Over, Mr. Charles

Dryden Sent A Challenge To The Lord Jefferies, Who Refusing to Answer It,

He Sent Several Others, And Went Often Himself; But Could Neither Get A

Letter Delivered, Nor Admittance To Speak To Him: Which So Incensed

Him, That He Resolved, Since His Lordship Refused to Answer Him Like A

Gentleman, That He Would Watch An Opportunity To Meet And Fight Off-Hand,

Though With All The Rules Of Honour; Which His Lordship Hearing, Left The

Town; And Mr. Charles Dryden Could Never Have The Satisfaction Of Meeting

Him, Though He Sought It Till His Death With The Utmost Application."

 

 

 

This Story I Once Intended to Omit, As It Appears With No Great Evidence;

Nor Have I Met With Any Confirmation, But In a Letter Of Farquhar; And He

Only Relates That The Funeral Of Dryden Was Tumultuary And Confused.[117]

 

 

 

Supposing the Story True, We May Remark, That The Gradual Change Of

Manners, Though Imperceptible In the Process, Appears Great, When

Different Times, And Those Not Very Distant, Are Compared. If, At This

Time, A Young Drunken Lord Should Interrupt The Pompous Regularity Of A

Magnificent Funeral, What Would Be The Event, But That He Would Be

Justled out Of The Way, And Compelled to Be Quiet? If He Should Thrust

Himself Into A House, He Would Be Sent Roughly Away; And, What Is Yet

More To The Honour Of The Present Time, I Believe That Those Who Had

Subscribed to The Funeral Of A Man Like Dryden, Would Not, For Such An

Accident, Have Withdrawn Their Contributions[118].

 

 

 

He Was Buried among The Poets In westminster Abbey, Where, Though The

Duke Of Newcastle Had, In a General Dedication Prefixed by Congreve To

His Dramatick Works, Accepted thanks For His Intention Of Erecting him

A Monument, He Lay Long Without Distinction, Till The Duke Of

Buckinghamshire Gave Him A Tablet, Inscribed only With The Name Of

Dryden.

 

 

 

He Married the Lady Elizabeth Howard, Daughter Of The Earl Of Berkshire,

With Circumstances, According to The Satire Imputed to Lord Somers, Not

Very Honourable To Either Party: By Her He Had Three Sons, Charles, John,

And Henry. Charles Was Usher Of The Palace To Pope Clement The Eleventh;

And, Visiting england In 1704, Was Drowned in an Attempt To Swim Across

The Thames At Windsor.

 

 

 

John Was Author Of A Comedy Called the Husband His Own Cuckold. He Is

Said To Have Died at Rome. Henry Entered into Some Religious Order. It Is

Some Proof Of Dryden'S Sincerity In his Second Religion, That He Taught

It To His Sons. A Man Conscious Of Hypocritical Profession In himself, Is

Not Likely To Convert Others; And, As His Sons Were Qualified, In 1693,

To Appear Among The Translators Of Juvenal, They Must Have Been Taught

Some Religion Before Their Father'S Change.

 

 

 

Of The Person Of Dryden I Know Not Any Account; Of His Mind, The Portrait

Which Has Been Left By Congreve, Who Knew Him With Great Familiarity, Is

Such As Adds Our Love Of His Manners To Our Admiration Of His Genius. "He

Was," We Are Told, "Of A Nature Exceedingly Humane And Compassionate,

Ready To Forgive Injuries, And Capable Of A Sincere Reconciliation With

Those Who Had Offended him. His Friendship, Where He Professed it, Went

Beyond His Professions. He Was Of A Very Easy, Of Very Pleasing, Access;

But Somewhat Slow, And, As It Were, Diffident In his Advances To Others:

He Had That In his Nature Which Abhorred intrusion Into Any Society

Whatever. He Was, Therefore, Less Known, And Consequently His Character

Became More Liable To Misapprehensions And Misrepresentations: He Was

Very Modest, And Very Easily To Be Discountenanced in his Approaches To

His Equals Or Superiours. As His Reading had Been Very Extensive, So Was

He Very Happy In a Memory Tenacious Of Every Thing that He Had Read. He

Was Not More Possessed of Knowledge Than He Was Communicative Of It; But

Then His Communication Was By No Means Pedantick, Or Imposed upon The

Conversation, But Just Such, And Went So Far As, By The Natural Turn Of

The Conversation In which He Was Engaged, It Was Necessarily Promoted

Or Required. He Was Extremely Ready And Gentle In his Correction Of The

Errours Of Any Writer Who Thought Fit To Consult Him, And Full As Ready

And Patient To Admit Of The Reprehensions Of Others, In respect Of His

Own Over-Sights Or Mistakes."

 

 

 

To This Account Of Congreve Nothing can Be Objected but The Fondness Of

Friendship; And To Have Excited that Fondness In such A Mind Is No Small

Degree Of Praise. The Disposition Of Dryden, However, Is Shown In this

Character Rather As It Exhibited itself In cursory Conversation, Than As

It Operated on The More Important Parts Of Life. His Placability And His

Friendship, Indeed, Were Solid Virtues; But Courtesy And Good Humour Are

Often Found With Little Real Worth. Since Congreve, Who Knew Him Well,

Has Told Us No More, The Rest Must Be Collected, As It Can, From Other

Testimonies, And Particularly From Those Notices Which Dryden Has Very

Liberally Given Us Of Himself.

 

 

 

The Modesty Which Made Him So Slow To Advance, And So Easy To

Be Repulsed, Was Certainly No Suspicion Of Deficient Merit, Or

Unconsciousness Of His Own Value: He Appears To Have Known, In its Whole

Extent, The Dignity Of His Character, And To Have Set A Very High Value

On His Own Powers And Performances. He Probably Did Not Offer His

Conversation, Because He Expected it To Be Solicited; And He Retired from

A Cold Reception, Not Submissive But Indignant, With Such Reverence

Of His Own Greatness As Made Him Unwilling to Expose It To Neglect Or

Violation.

 

 

 

His Modesty Was By No Means Inconsistent With Ostentatiousness: He Is

Diligent Enough To Remind The World Of His Merit, And Expresses, With

Very Little Scruple, His High Opinion Of His Own Powers; But His

Self-Commendations Are Read Without Scorn Or Indignation; We Allow His

Claims, And Love His Frankness.

 

 

 

Tradition, However, Has Not Allowed that His Confidence In himself

Exempted him From Jealousy Of Others. He Is Accused of Envy And

Insidiousness; And Is Particularly Charged with Inciting creech To

Translate Horace, That He Might Lose The Reputation Which Lucretius Had

 

Given Him.

Of This Charge We Immediately Discover That It Is Merely Conjectural;

The Purpose Was Such As No Man Would Confess; And A Crime That Admits No

Proof, Why Should We Believe?

 

 

 

He Has Been Described as Magisterially Presiding over The Younger

Writers, And Assuming the Distribution Of Poetical Fame; But He Who

Excels Has A Right To Teach, And He Whose Judgment Is Incontestable, May,

Without Usurpation, Examine And Decide.

 

 

 

Congreve Represents Him As Ready To Advise And Instruct; But There

Is Reason To Believe That His Communication Was Rather Useful Than

Entertaining. He Declares Of Himself That He Was Saturnine, And Not

One Of Those Whose Sprightly Sayings Diverted company; And One Of His

Censurers Makes Him Say:

 

 

 

  Nor Wine Nor Love Could Ever See Me Gay;

  To Writing bred, I Knew Not What To Say[119].

 

 

 

There Are Men Whose Powers Operate Only At Leisure And In retirement, And

Whose Intellectual Vigour Deserts Them In conversation; Whom Merriment

Confuses, And Objection Disconcerts; Whose Bashfulness Restrains Their

Exertion, And Suffers Them Not To Speak Till The Time Of Speaking is

Past; Or Whose Attention To Their Own Character Makes Them Unwilling to

Utter At Hazard What Has Not Been Considered, And Cannot Be Recalled.

 

 

 

Of Dryden'S Sluggishness In conversation It Is Vain To Search Or To Guess

The Cause. He Certainly Wanted neither Sentiments Nor Language; His

Intellectual Treasures Were Great, Though They Were Locked up From His

Own Use. "His Thoughts," When He Wrote, "Flowed in upon Him So Fast, That

His Only Care Was Which To Choose, And Which To Reject." Such Rapidity Of

Composition Naturally Promises A Flow Of Talk; Yet We Must Be Content To

Believe What An Enemy Says Of Him, When He, Likewise, Says It Of Himself.

But, Whatever Was His Character As A Companion, It Appears That He Lived

In Familiarity With The Highest Persons Of His Time. It Is Related by

Carte Of The Duke Of Ormond, That He Used often To Pass A Night With

Dryden, And Those With Whom Dryden Consorted: Who They Were Carte Has

Not Told; But Certainly The Convivial Table At Which Ormond Sat Was Not

Surrounded with A Plebeian Society. He Was, Indeed, Reproached with

Boasting of His Familiarity With The Great; And Horace Will Support Him

In The Opinion, That To Please Superiours Is Not The Lowest Kind Of

Merit.

The Merit Of Pleasing must, However, Be Estimated by The Means. Favour

Is Not Always Gained by Good Actions Or Laudable Qualities. Caresses And

Preferments Are Often Bestowed on The Auxiliaries Of Vice, The Procurers

Of Pleasure, Or The Flatterers Of Vanity. Dryden Has Never Been Charged

With Any Personal Agency Unworthy Of A Good Character: He Abetted vice

And Vanity Only With His Pen. One Of His Enemies Has Accused him Of

Lewdness In his Conversation; But, If Accusation Without Proof Be

Credited, Who Shall Be Innocent?

 

 

 

His Works Afford Too Many Examples Of Dissolute Licentiousness And Abject

Adulation; But They Were, Probably, Like His Merriment, Artificial And

Constrained; The Effects Of Study And Meditation, And His Trade Rather

Than His Pleasure.

 

 

 

Of The Mind That Can Trade In corruption, And Can Deliberately Pollute

Itself With Ideal Wickedness, For The Sake Of Spreading the Contagion In

Society, I Wish Not To Conceal Or Excuse The Depravity. Such Degradation

Of The Dignity Of Genius, Such Abuse Of Superlative Abilities, Cannot Be

Contemplated but With Grief And Indignation. What Consolation Can Be Had,

Dryden Has Afforded, By Living to Repent, And To Testify His Repentance.

 

 

 

Of Dramatick Immorality He Did Not Want Examples Among His Predecessors,

Or Companions Among His Contemporaries; But, In the Meanness And

Servility Of Hyperbolical Adulation, I Know Not Whether, Since The Days

In Which The Roman Emperours Were Deified, He Has Been Ever Equalled,

Except