honour'd the World with the following Poems, viz. I. An Effay on Poetry. My Lord, in this admirable Poem, has not only fhewn his very great Wit, but as Mr. Pope obferves, reftor'd Wit's fundamental Laws, it containing the best Rules for Poetry of any Piece written in the English Language. II. An Ode of Brutus, in Answer to that of the famous Cowley, and no Way inferior to it. III. A Poem, in Praife of Hobbs. IV. The Temple of Death. This is an admirable Piece. V. The Rapture; an excellent Poem. VI. The Happy Night; mifprinted as being written by the Earl of Rochester; with feveral Copies of Love Verses spread up and down in the Mifcellanies, without his Lordship's Permiffion, under the Names of Earl of Mulgrave and Marquis of Normanby. His Effay on Poetry begins thus: Of Things in which Mankind does most excel, Nature's chief Mafter-piece is writing well: And of all Sorts of Writings none there are That can the leaft with Poetry compare: No Kind of Work requires fo nice a Touch, And if well finifh'd nothing fhines fo much : But Heav'n forbid we fhould be so profane, To grace the Vulgar with that facred Name. 'Tis not a Flash of Fancy, which fometimes Daz'ling our Minds, fets off the flightest Rhymes; Bright as a Blaze, but in a Moment done; True Wit is everlasting like the Sun: Which tho' fometimes behind a Cloud retir'd, Breaks out again, and is by all admir'd. Number and Rhyme, and that harmonious Sound, Which never does the Ear with Harshness wound, Are neceffary, yet by vulgar Arts; For all in vain these fuperficial Parts, 13 Contribute Contribute to the Structure of the whole I am inform'd alfo, that my Lord of late has written in Profe, equal to his Compofitions of Poetry, two Dialogues of the Dead; one of them between Mahomet and the Duke of Guife about Religion; the other between Auguftus Cæfar, and Cardinal Richlieu of Politicks. A Satyrical Feaft of the Gods, in Imitation of Julian: Ant his excellent Character of King Charles II. got into Print, without his Leave, about five and twenty Years ago. * He was a very great Poet, the Account that Mr. Jacobs gives being a very imperfect one of his Poems, and of his Life too, it will be much more fatisfactory to hear what he fays in fome Memoirs of his own, viz. Aving obferved that Memoirs and Accounts of Perfons tho' not very confiderable, when written by themselves, have been greedily read, and often found usefull, not only for the Knowledge of things paft, but as Cautions for the future; I have chofen to employ fome part of that Leifure, which I have by Intervals, and which by Reafon of decaying Health and Vigour I know not how to spend better, in fetting down exactly and impartially all I could remember *This is taken from the Lives and Characters of the English Poets, by Giles Jacob. very ber of myself, fit to be made publick; a kind of picture left behind me to my Friends and Family, like, tho' neither well painted, nor handsome. I shall begin it at the Age of Seventeen; when hearing every where the Earl of Offery commended, for being a Voluntier that Summer in a hot Engagement at Sea; I went thither directly, on board that Ship, in which Prince Rupert and the Duke of Albemarle jointly commanded the Fleet against the Dutch. Their Ufage of me was fo civil, and the Company on board them fo good; that (tho' by a fudden Storm that parted the twoFleets just ready to ingage, I loft fix Weeks time there, at an Age when it may be a great deal more pleasantly spent) yet I ftay'd 'till the Fleet was laid up, not only without Impatience, but any fort of Uneafinefs. Yet 'tis obfervable, that the first Night we came to London, the Lord Blany, Sir Thomas Clifford, afterwards Lord Treafurer, Mr. Henry Savill, and myself (tho' fuch familiar Friends, as to be very often together for many Years after) were then fo fatiated and cloy'd with each other by our being shut up together fo long in one Ship, that I remember we avoided one another's Company at least for a whole Month after; tho' except myfelf, there could hardly be any more pleasant. While I was in that Ship with Prince Rupert and the Duke of Albemarle, I obferved the latter to leave all things to the Conduct and Skill of the other; declaring modeftly upon all Occafions himself to be no Seaman. And yet there happened once a hot Dispute between them, which will fhew fome Part of that Duke's Character. When we firft efpied the Dutch Fleet failing towards us, our whole Blue Squadron was aftern much farther from us; fo' that Prince Rupert thought it abfolutely neceflary to flacken Sail, that they might have time to join us. But the Duke of Albemarle oppofed it eagerly; undertaking that the Ship in which they were, with about Twenty Ships more, would prove fufficient to beat all the Enemies Fleet; at leaft, hold them in play 'till the reft of ours came up. The Prince aftonished at fuch an unaccountable Intrepidity, made us smile to fee him take on himfelf the timorous, cautious, and prudential Part, which did not ufe to be his Cuftom; he declared he would never confent to fuch a Rafh-nefs as might very probably coft us the Lofs of ourAdmiral's Ship, and confequently of our whole Fleet afterwards; which obliged the good old Man to yield at laft, but with a great deal of Reluctance. As foon as the Bloody Flag was fet up, before the Storm arose which parted us, Mr. Savill and myself being on the Quarter-Deck, efpied him charging a very little Pistol, and putting it in his Pocket: which was fo odd a fort of a weapon on fuch an Occasion, that we too could imagine no Reason for it, except his having taken a Refolution of going down into the Powder Room to blow up the Ship, in cafe at any time it should be in Danger of being taken, for he had often faid he would answer for nothing, but that we should never be carried into Holland; and therefore Mr. Savill and I, in a laughing way, moft mutinoufly refolved to throw him overboard, in cafe we fhould ever catch him going down to the Powder Room. Our Fleet happening afterwards to go near the Shore to take in fresh Water, Prince Rupert dined with a Gentleman who lived thereabouts; and returning on board in a little Boat, with only the Lord Blany and my felf, there happened fo fudden and violent a Storm, that we did not like it; and Prince Rupert began to talk of Prince Maurice's being caft away away by a like Accident; upon which I could not but reflect on my Family alfo, fince my Grandfather and three of his Brothers had been drowned. The Lord Blany hearing all this, made us fmile in the midst of our Danger, by Swearing, that tho' he liked our Company, he wifh'd himself out of it, and in any other Boat whatsoever; fince he feared the ill fortune of our two Families wou'd fink him. This was the last Year of the first Dutch War; yet before it ended, they burnt fome of our best Ships at Chatham and defign'd to make aDefcent upon our Coafts; which occafion'd the raifing of feveral independent Troops of Horfe; of which I had one given me, and was fo foolishly fond of it, (being my first military Command) that I indured my Quarters at Dover as contentedly, and was as forry for being difbanded upon the Peace, as if I had been a meer Soldier of Fortune. At the next Meeting of Parliament I received a Writ to fit there; and being known by every Body to be younger by three Years than the prefixed Age for the voting in the House of Peers, it was oppofed by Algernoon Earl of Northumberland, who very gravely moved, that they would rather excufe Lords till fome Years above the Age of one and twenty, instead of admitting one fo much younger. In this he certainly was in the right; and I acquiefced in it the more willingly, because that Heat of Youth (which was his Objection) made me a great Deal more inclined to fomething elfe, than to fitting there: Accordingly I followed it with too much Eagernefs, and without Interruption, 'till the fecond Dutch War; during this Time, and Heat of Temper, I had the good Fortune not to be engaged in any more than one Quarrel; but that had fomething in it fingular enough to be related. I was informed that the Earl |