26 



NOTES AND QUEKIES. 



[No. 115. 



who have, either by their Actions or Writings, drawn 

 the Attention of the World upon them : it is a Tribute 

 due to the illustrious Dead ; and has a Tendency to 

 awaken, in the Mindj of the Living, the laudable 

 Principle of Emulation. As there is no Reading at 

 once Si) entertaining and instructive, as that of Bio- 

 graphy, so none ought to have the Preference to it : 

 It yields the most striking Pictures of Life, and shews 

 us the many Vicissitudes to whicli we are exposed in 

 the Course of that important Journey. It has hap- 

 pened that the Lives of the Literati have been less 

 attended to than those of Men of Action, whether in 

 the Field or Senate ; possibly because Accounts of 

 them are more difficult to be attained, as they move in 

 a retired Sphere, and may therefore be thought in- 

 capable of exciting so much Curiosity, or affecting the 

 Mind with equal Force ; but certain it is, that familiar 

 Life, the Knowledge of which is of the highest Im- 

 portance, might often be strikingly exhibited, were its 

 various Scenes but sufficiently known, and properly 

 illustrated. Of this, the most affecting Instances will 

 be found in the Lives of the Poets, whose Indigence 

 has so often subjected them to experience Variety of 

 Fortune, and whose Parts and Genius have been so 

 much concerned in furnishing Entertainment to the 

 Public. As the Poets generally converse more at large, 

 than other men, their Lives must naturally be produc- 

 tive of such Incidents as cannot but please those who 

 deem the Study of Human Nature, and Lessons of 

 Life, the most important. 



" The Lives of the Poets have been less perfectly 

 given to the World, than the Figure they have made in 

 it, and the Share they have in our Admiration, natu- 

 rally demand. The Dramatic Authors indeed have 

 had some Writers who have transmitted Accounts of 

 their works to Posterity : Of these Langbain is by 

 far the most considerable. He was a Man of extensive 

 Heading, and has taken a great deal of Pains to trace 

 the Sources from which our Poets have derived their 

 Plots ; he has given a Catalogue of their Plays, and, 

 as far as his Reading served him, very accurately: He 

 has much improved upon Winstanley and Philips, and 

 his Account of the Poets is certainly the best now 

 extant. Jacob's Performance is a most contemptible 

 one ; he has given himself no Trouble to gain Intelli- 

 gence, and has scarcely transcribed Langbain with 

 Accuracy. Mis. Cooper, Author of 2%« Muses Li- 

 brary, has been industrious in collecting the Works and 

 some Memoirs of the Poets who preceded Spenser : 

 But her Plan did not admit of erdarging, and she has 

 furnished but little Intelligence concerning them. 



" The general Error into which Langbain, Mrs. 

 Cooper, and all the other Biographers have fallen, is 

 this : They have considered the Poets merely as such, 

 without tracing their Connexions in civil Life, the 

 various Circumstances they have been in, their Patron- 

 a-^e, their Employments, and in short, the Figure they 

 made as Members of the Commuaity ; which Omission 

 has rendered their Accounts less interesting, and while 

 they have shewn us the Poet, they havequite neglected 

 the Man. Many of the Poets, besides their Excellency 

 in that Profession, were held in Esteem by Men in 

 Power, and filled civil Employments with Honour and 

 Reputation ; virions Part cu'ars of their T,;v?s are to 



be found in the Annals of the Age in which they lived, 

 and which were connected with those of their Patron. 



" But these Particulars lie scattered in a Variety of 

 Books, and the collecting them together and properly 

 arranging them, is as yet unattempted, and is no easy 

 task to accomplish. This however, we have endea- 

 voured to do, and if we are able to execute our Plan, 

 their Lives will prove entertaining, and many Articles 

 of Intelligence, omitted by others, will be brought to 

 Light. Another Advantage we imagine our Plan has 

 over those who have gone before us in the same 

 Attempt is, that we have not confined ourselves to 

 Dramatic Writers only, but have taken in all who have 

 had any Name as Poets, of whatsoever Class : and have 

 besides given some Account of their other Writings : 

 So that if they had any Excellence independant of 

 Poetry, it will appear in full View to the Reader. We 

 have likewise considered the Poets, not as they rise 

 Alphabetically, but Chronologically, from Chaucer, the 

 Morning Star of English Poetry, to the present Times : 

 And we promise in the Cour>e of this work, to make 

 short Quotations by Way of Specimen from every 

 Author, so that the Readers will be able to discern the 

 Progress of Poetry from its Origin in Chancer to its 

 Consummation in Dryden. He will discover the 

 gradual Improvements made in Versification, its Rise 

 and Fall ; and in a Word, the compleat History of 

 Poetry will appear before him. In the Reign of Queen 

 Elizabeth for Instance, Numbers and Harmony were 

 carried to a great Perfection by the Earl of Surry, 

 Spenser, and Fairfax ; in the Reign of James and 

 Charles the First, they grew harsher ; at the Restora- 

 tion, when Taste and Politeness began again to revive, 

 Waller restored them to the Smoothness they had lost: 

 Dryden reached the highest Excellence of Numbers, 

 and compleated the Power of Poetry. 



" In the Course of this Work we shall be particular 

 in quoting Authorities for every Fact advanced, as it is 

 fit the Reader should not be left at an Uncertainty ; 

 and where we find judicious Criticisms on the Works 

 of our Authors, we shall take care to insert them, and 

 shall seldom give our Opinion in the Decision of what 

 Degree of Merit is due to them. We may venture, 

 however, in order to enliven the Narration as much as 

 possible, sometimes to throw in a Reflection, and in 

 Facts that are disputed, to sum up the Evidence on 

 both Sides. But though the Poets were often involved 

 in Parties, and engaged in the vicissitudes of State, we 

 shall endeavour to illustrate their Conduct, without any 

 satirical Remarks, or favourable Colouring ; never de- 

 tracting from the Merit of one, or raising the Reputa- 

 tion of another, on Account of political Principles." 



JOB : HEBREW 2Vii • AEABIC <_-?.j' : CCNEIFOEM 

 " AIDE." 



" This celebrated Patriarch has been represented by 

 some sacred writers as imaginary, and his book as a 

 fictitious dramatic composition." — Dr. Hales : See 

 D'Oyly and Manfs Bible. 



But Hales jroes on to prove from the sacred 

 ■writin<rs that Job was a real diaracter, and tlint 



