his pupil in a Latin elegy. At a proper age he was sent to St. Paul's School, and there began to distinguish himself by his intense application to study, as well as by his poetical talents. In his sixteenth year he was removed to Christ's College, Cambridge, where he was admitted a pensioner, under the tuition of Mr. W. Chappel.

"Of his course of studies in the university, little is known; but it appears, from several exercises preserved in his works, that he had acquired extraordinary skill in writing Latin verses, which are of a purer taste than any preceding compositions of the kind by English scholars. He took the degrees both of Bachelor and Master of Arts; the latter in 1632, when he left Cambridge. He renounced his original intention of entering the Church, for which he has given as a reason, that, coming to some maturity of years, he had perceived what tyranny had invaded it'; which denotes a man early habituated to think and act for himself.

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"He now returned to his father, who had retired from business to a residence at Horton, in Buckinghamshire; and he there passed five years in the study of the best Roman and Grecian authors, and in the composition of some of his finest miscellaneous poems. This was the period of his 'Allegro' and 'Pense. roso'; his Comus' and 'Lycidas.' That his learning and talents had at this time attracted considerable notice, appears from an application made to him from the Bridgewater family, which produced his admirable masque of Comus,' performed in 1634 at Ludlow Castle, before the Earl of Bridgewater, then Lord President of Wales; and also by his 'Arcades,' part of an entertainment presented to the Countess Dowager of Derby, at Harefield, by some of her family.

In 1638 he obtained his father's leave to improve himself by foreign travel, and set out for the Continent. Passing through France, he proceeded to Italy, and spent a considerable time in that seat of the arts and of literature. At Naples he was kindly received by Manso, Marquis of Villa, who had long before deserved the gratitude of poets by his patronage of Tasso; and, in return for a laudatory distich of Manso, Milton addressed to him a Latin poem of great elegance. He left Italy by the way of Geneva, where he contracted an acquaintance with two learned divines, John Diodati and Frederic Spanheim; and he returned through France, having been absent about a year and three months.

"On his arrival, Milton found the nation agitated by civil and religious disputes, which threatened a crisis; and as he had expressed himself impatient to be present on the theatre of contention, it has been thought extraordinary that he did not immediately place himself in some active station. But his turn was not military; his fortune precluded a seat in Parliament: the pulpit he had declined; and for the bar he had made no preparation. His

taste and habits were altogether literary; for the present, therefore, he fixed himself in the metropolis, and undertook the education of his sister's two sons, of the name of Phillips. Soon after, he was applied to by several parents to admit their children to the benefit of his tuition. He therefore took a commodious house in Aldersgate Street, and opened an academy. Disapproving the plan of education in the public schools and universities, he deviated from it as widely as possible. He put into the hands of his scholars, instead of the common classics, such Greek and Latin authors as treated on the arts and sciences, and on philosophy; thus expecting to instil the knowledge of things with that of words. We are not informed of the result of his plan; but it will appear singular that one who had himself drunk so deeply at the Muses' fount should withhold the draught from others. We learn, however, that he performed the task of instruction with great assiduity.

"Milton did not long suffer himself to lie under the reproach of having neglected the public cause in his private pursuits; and, in 1641, he published four treatises relative to church government, in which he gave the preponderance to the presbyterian form above the episcopalian. Resuming the same controversy in the following year, he numbered among his antagonists such men as Bishop Hall and Archbishop Usher. His father, who had been disturbed by the king's troops, now came to live with him; and the necessity of a female head of such a house, caused Milton, in 1643, to form a connection with the daughter of Richard Powell, Esq., a magistrate of Oxfordshire. This was, in several respects, an unhappy marriage; for his fatherin-law was a zealous royalist, and his wife had accustomed herself to the jovial hospitality of that party. She had not, therefore, passed above a month in her husband's house, when, having procured an invitation from her father, she went to pass the summer in his mansion. Milton's invitations for her return were treated with contempt; upon which, regarding her conduct as a desertion which broke the nuptial contract, he determined to punish it by repudiation. In 1644 he published a work on 'The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce'; and, in the next year, it was followed by 'Tetrachordon, or Expositions upon the four chief Places in Scripture which treat of Marriage.' He further reduced his doctrine into practice, by paying his addresses to a young lady of great accomplishments; but, as he was paying a visit to a neighbour and kinsman, he was surprised with the sudden entrance of his wife, who threw herself at his feet, and implored forgiveness. After a short struggle of resentment, he took her to his bosom; and he sealed the reconciliation by opening his house to her father and brothers, when they had been driven from home by the triumph of the republican arms.

theological system. It would be superfluous, at this time, to weigh the merits of Milton's great work, which stands so much beyond competition; but it may be affirmed, that whatever his other poems can exhibit of beauty in some parts, or of grandeur in others, may all be referred to 'Paradise Lost' as the most perfect model of both.

"Milton, not exhausted by this great effort, followed it in 1670 by Paradise Regained,' written upon a suggestion of the Quaker Elwood's, and apparently regarded as the theological completion of the Paradise Lost.' Although, in point of invention, its inferiority is plainly apparent, yet modern criticism has pronounced that there are passages in it by no means unworthy of the genius of Milton, allowance being made for the small compass of the subject, and his purpose in writing it. Together with it appeared his tragedy of 'Sampson Agonistes,' composed upon the model of antiquity, and never intended for the stage.

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"With this work his poetical account closes : and a few pieces in prose can scarcely claim particular notice. He sunk tranquilly under an exhaustion of the vital powers in November, 1674, when he had nearly completed his 66th year. His remains were carried from his house in Bunhill Fields to the church of St. Giles, Cripplegate, with a numerous and splendid attendance. No monument marked the tomb of this great man, but his memory was honoured with a tomb in 1737, in Westminster Abbey, at the expense of Auditor Benson. The only family whom he left were daughters."See Aikin's "British Poets"; "Handbook of Eng. Lit.," by Rev. Dr. Angus; Shaw's "Hist. of Eng. Lit."; Chambers's "Cyc. Eng. Lit." vol. i.; Scrymgeour's Poetry and Poets of Britain"; Campbell's "Specs."; Professor Spalding's "Hist. Eng. Lit."; Gilfillan's "English Poets."

ANDREW MARVELL.

"This noble-minded patriot and poet, the friend of Milton, the Abdiel of a dark and corrupt age, faithful found among the faithless, faithful only he,'-was born in Hull in 1620. He was sent to Cambridge, and is said there to have nearly fallen a victim to the proselytising Jesuits, who enticed him to London. His father, however, a clergyman in Hull, went in search of and brought him back to his university, where speedily, by extensive culture and the vigorous exercise of his powerful faculties, he emancipated himself for ever from the dominion, and the danger of the dominion, of superstition and bigotry. We know little more about the early days of our poet. When only twenty, he lost his father in remarkable circumstances. In 1640 he had embarked on the Humber, in company with

a youthful pair whom he was to marry at Barrow, in Lincolnshire. The weather was calm; but Marvell, seized with a sudden presentiment of danger, threw his staff ashore, and cried out, 'Ho for heaven!' A storm came on, and the whole company perished. In consequence of this sad event, the gentleman, whose daughter was to have been married, conceiving that the father had sacrificed his life while performing an act of friendship, adopted young Marvell as his son. Owing to this, he received a better education, and was sent abroad to travel. It is said that at Rome he met and formed a friendship with Milton, then engaged on his immortal continental tour. We find Marvell next at Constantinople, as Secretary to the English Embassy at that Court. We then lose sight of him till 1653, when he was engaged by the Protector to superintend the education of a Mr. Dutton at Eton. For a year and a half after Cromwell's death Marvell assisted Milton as Latin Secretary to the Protector. Our readers are all familiar with the print of Cromwell and Milton seated together at the council-table-the one the express image of active power and rugged grandeur, the other of thoughtful majesty and ethereal grace.

Marvell might have been added as a third, and become the emblem of strong English sense and incorruptible integrity. A letter of Milton's was, not long since, discovered, dated February, 1652, in which he speaks of Marvell as fitted, by his knowledge of Latin and his experience of teaching, to be his assistant. He was not appointed, however, till 1657. In 1660 he became member for Hull, and was re-elected as long as he lived. He was absent, however, from England for two years, in the beginning of the reign, in Germany and Holland. Afterwards he sought leave from his constituents to act as Ambassador's Secretary to Lord Carlisle at the Northern Courts; but from the year 1665 to his death, his attention to his parliamentary duties was unremitting. He constantly corresponded with his constituents; and after the longest sittings he used to write out for their use a minute account of public proceedings ere he went to bed or took any refreshment. He was one of the last members

who received pay from the town he represented (2s. a-day was probably the sum); and his constituents were wont, besides, to send him barrels of ale as tokens of their regard. Marvell spoke little in the House; but his heart and vote were always in the right place. Even Prince Rupert continually consulted him, and was sometimes persuaded by him to support the popular side; and King Charles, having met him once in private, was so delighted with his wit and agreeable manners, that he thought him worth trying to bribe. He sent Lord Danby to offer him a mark of his Majesty's consideration. Marvell, who was seated in a dingy room up several flights of stairs, declined the proffer, and, it is said,

called his servant to witness that he had dined for three successive days on the same shoulder of mutton, and was not likely, therefore, to care for or need a bribe. When the Treasurer was gone, he had to send to a friend to borrow a guinea. Although a silent senator, Marvell was a copious and popular writer. He attacked Bishop Parker for his slavish principles, in a piece entitled 'The Rehearsal Transposed,' in which he takes occasion to vindicate and panegyrise his old colleague Milton. His anonymous Account of the Growth of Arbitrary Power and Popery in England' excited a sensation, and a reward was offered for the apprehension of the author and printer. Marvell had many of the elements of a first-rate political pamphleteer. He had wit of a most pungent kind, great though coarse fertility of fancy, and a spirit of independence that nothing could subdue or damp. He was the undoubted ancestor of the Defoes, Swifts, Steeles, Juniuses, and Burkes, in whom this kind of authorship reached its perfection, ceased to be fugitive, and assumed classical rank.

"Marvell had been repeatedly threatened with assassination, and hence, when he died suddenly on the 16th of August, 1678, it was surmised that he had been removed by poison. The Corporation of Hull voted a sum to defray his funeral expenses, and for raising a monument to his memory; but owing to the interference of the Court, through the rector of the parish, this votive tablet was not at the time erected. He was buried in St. Giles-in-theFields.

"Out of the strong came forth sweetness,' saith the Hebrew record. And so from the sturdy Andrew Marvell have proceeded such soft and lovely strains as The Emigrants,' "The Nymph complaining for the death of her Fawn,' 'Young Love,' &c. The statue of Memnon became musical at the dawn; and the stern patriot, whom no bribe could buy and no flattery melt, is found sympathising in song with a boatful of banished Englishmen in the remote Bermudas, and inditing Thoughts in a Garden,' from which you might suppose that he had spent his life more with melons than with men, and was better acquainted with the motions of a bee-hive than with the contests of Parliament and the distractions of a most distracted age. It was said (not with thorough truth) of Milton, that he could cut out a Colossus from a rock, but could not carve heads upon cherry-stones-a task which his assistant may be said to have performed in his stead, in his small but delectable copies of verse."-Gilfillan's Less-known British Poets," vol. ii., p. 174.

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bras are scanty and obscure. He was the son of a farmer in Worcestershire. It is doubtful whether he received a university education; for, though alleged to have resided some years at Cambridge, he is not known to have matriculated at any college. He is afterwards found in the family of the Countess of Kent, and enjoying the friendship of the learned Selden. He appears again, probably in the capacity of tutor, in the service of Sir Samuel Luke, one of Cromwell's officers, who is considered to be the prototype of Hudibras. The Restoration brought to his fortunes a gleam of hope. He obtained employment as secretary to the Earl of Carbery. Having lost his wife's fortune through bad securities, he became an author, and published, in 1663, the first part of his Satire. It was received with unbounded popularity, and was made known at court through the kindness of the Earl of Dorset. The author, however, was unrewarded. The king is said to have given him £300, but of this there is no proof. In the subsequent years he published the second and third parts of his poem; and died in indigence in 1680. The neglect of the king is the more criminal, since the Satire must be viewed as a valuable piece of good service to the royalist cause. Broad caricature and miraculous force of wit exert their united strength to hold up the Puritan party to contempt and ridicule. The idea of the piece is, of course, borrowed from Cervantes; but there is no resemblance between the two works. Hudibras' is thoroughly English. The whole poem is a continual sparkle of brilliancy, adorned by the resources of immense learning; language, character, and imagery are moulded at the author's will. No rhyme is so complicated that he wants words to form its counterpart; no image so remote that his hand cannot compel it into his service. The work is unfinished, and from the range of years over which it was published, the plan is desultory and incompact. The perusal of 'Hudibras' is diet so solid, that it should be taken by little at a time. It is one of those works whose epigrammatic practical wisdom has woven itself into the phraseology of the language. The popularity of Hudibras ' caused forgeries of the author's style after his death. 'Genuine Remains,' in prose and verse, were published in 1759, by Mr. Thyer, from manuscripts left in possession of Butler's friend Mr. Longueville." (Scrymgeour's

Poetry and Poets of Britain," pp. 222, 223.) See Dibdin's "Library Companion"; Preface to "Hudibras," by Rev. Dr. Nash; Hallam's "Introduct. to Lit. History"; Allibone's "Crit. Dict. Eng. Lit."

SAMUEL BUTLER.

Samuel Butler, born 1612, died 1680. "The particulars of the life of the author of Hudi

CHARLES COTTON.

Charles Cotton, born 1630, died 1687, best known as the friend of Izaak Walton, had

an estate in Derbyshire upon the river Dove, celebrated for its trout. He wrote several humorous poems, and his "Voyage to Ireland," Campbell remarks, seems to anticipate the manner of Anstey in the "Bath Guide." Shaw's "Hist. Eng. Lit.," p. 187. See Allibone's "Crit. Dic. Eng. Lit."; Gilfillan's "Less-known British Poets."

EARL OF ROSCOMMON.

Earl of Roscommon, born 1634, died 1685, the nephew of the famous Strafford, produced a poetical Essay on Translated Verse" and a version of the "Art of Poetry" from Horace, which were received by the public and the men of letters with an extravagance of praise attributable to the respect then entertained for any intellectual accomplishment in a nobleman.-Shaw's "Hist. Eng. Lit."

EARL OF ROCHESTER.

Earl of Rochester, born 1647, died 1680, so celebrated for his insane debaucheries and the witty eccentricities which made him one of the most prominent figures in the profligate court of Charles II., produced a number of poems, chiefly songs and fugitive lyrics, which proved how great were the natural talents he had wasted in the most insane extravagance : his deathbed conversion and repentance produced by the arguments of Bishop Burnet, who has left an interesting and edifying account of his penitent's last moments, show that, amid all his vices, Rochester's mind retained the capacity for better things. Many of his productions are unfortunately stained with such profanity and indecency, that they deserve the oblivion into which they are now fallen.

JOHN DRYDEN.

"John Dryden was born, probably in 1631, in the parish of Aldwincle-Allsaints, in Northamptonshire. His father possessed a small estate, acted as a justice of the peace during the usurpation, and seems to have been a Presbyterian. John, at a proper age, was sent to Westminster school, of which Busby was then master; and was thence elected to a scholarship in Trinity College, Cambridge. He took his degrees of bachelor and master of arts in the university; but though he had written two short copies of verses about the time of his admission, his name does not occur

among the academical poets of this period. By his father's death, in 1654, he succeeded to the estate, and, removing to the metropolis, he made his entrance into public life, under the auspices of his kinsman, Sir Gilbert Pickering, one of Cromwell's council and house of lords, and staunch to the principles then predominant. On the death of Cromwell, Dryden wrote some Heroic Stanzas,' strongly marked by the loftiness of expression and variety of imagery which characterised his more mature efforts. They were, however, criticised with some severity.

"At the Restoration, Dryden lost no time in obliterating former stains; and, as far as it was possible, rendered himself peculiarly distinguished for the base servility of his strains. He greeted the king's return by a poem, entitled Astræa Redux,' which was followed by A Panegyric on the Coronation :' nor did Lord Chancellor Clarendon escape his encomiastic lines. His marriage with Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the Earl of Berkshire, is supposed to have taken place in 1665. About this time he first appears as a writer for the stage, in which quality he composed several pieces; and though he did not display himself as a prime favourite of the dramatic muse, his facility of harmonious versification, and his splendour of poetic diction, gained him admirers. In 1667 he published a singular poem, entitled 'Annus Mirabilis,' the subjects of which were, the naval war with the Dutch, and the fire of London. It was written in four-line stanzas, a form which has since gone into disuse in heroic subjects; but the piece abounded in images of genuine poetry, though intermixed with many extravagances.

"At this period of his life Dryden became professionally a writer for the stage, having entered into a contract with the patentees of the King's Theatre, to supply them with three plays in a year, upon the condition of being allowed the profit of one share and a quarter out of twelve shares and three quarters, into which the theatrical stock was divided. Of the plays written upon the above contract, a small proportion only have kept their place on the stage or in the closet. On the death of Sir W. Davenant, in 1668, Dryden obtained the post of poet-laureate, to which was added the sinecure place of historiographer royal; the joint salaries of which amounted to £200.

"The tragedies composed by Dryden were written in his earlier periods in rhyme, which circumstance probably contributed to the poetical rant by which they were too much characterised. For the correction of this fault, Villiers Duke of Buckingham, in conjunction with other wits, wrote the celebrated burlesque drama, entitled 'The Rehearsal,' of which Dryden, under the name of Bayes, was made the hero; and, in order to point the ridicule, his dress, phraseology, and mode of