374. As he, etc. v. 1 Chronicles xiii. 7-10. 384. Vestigia, etc. Eneid, ix. 797, 798, quoted loosely: cf. 652, 653, 1072–1081. 391. Nec trucibus, etc. Incorrectly quoted from Sylva, v. 4. 5, 6; antennis (ac tenis in O), should be et terris: "Fierce rivers have not their wonted sound; the uproar of the deep declines, and the seas, leaning on the lands, become calm." 396. Two former victories. "By the English fleet over the Dutch in 1653 and 1665. On the last occasion the fleets met on the third, though the Dutch avoided fighting till the fourth of the month." SCOTT. 36, 435. Him, whom, etc. Christie calls attention to the imitation of Eneid, ii. 726-728: cf. 549. 988-991. 460. Doth. O reads does. 37, 472. Joshua's. v. Joshua x. 12, 13. 491. Quum medii, etc. Georgics, iii. 423, 424; cf. 473, 644-646. 38, 514. Dreadful, etc. Christie remarks that there is here a fresh reminiscence of Virgil. Cf. 629, 327, 328. 521. So have, etc. Cf. 396, 718-725. 536. Quos opimus, etc. Odes, iv. 4. 51, 52. 545. As when fiends. v. Mark iii. 11. 553. Unripe. Cf. 28, 10. 39, 573. Fervet opus. Georgics, iv. 169: cf. 479, 230-273. 577. Foundations. O reads foundation. 586. Friendly Sweden. "Sweden was the only Continental power friendly to Britain during this war." [SCOTT.] 588. Shakes. So O and Q, whether by Dryden's error or the printer's. 601. London. "The former vessel, called the London, had been destroyed by fire. The city now built a new vessel, under the name of the Loyal London, and presented her as a free gift to Charles." SCOTT. 40, 629. Saturn. According to the Roman poets, Saturn, after his overthrow by his son Jupiter, came to Italy, introduced civilization, and established a reign of peace and happiness. v. 335, 1; 388, 113-145; 608, 1080, 1081. 639. Extra anni, etc. Æneid, vi. 796: cf. 608, 1084. For similar expressions, v. 208, 353; 258, 306. 649. Measure of longitude. O reads knowledge of Longitudes. 653. Our globe's last verge. This passage has been condemned as senseless. Lowell, however, in his Essay on Dryden, illustrates it by the American "jumping-off place," at the end of the world, which is thought of as a flat plate. There the sea meets the sky and leans upon it. 659. The Royal Society. Founded in 1660 for the promotion of science. Dryden himself was elected a member in November, 1662. 41, 669. Already, etc. "Notwithstanding the exertions of the English, the Dutch fleet, which needed fewer repairs, was first at sea, and their admirals braved the coast of England." [SCOTT.] 681. Now come in. O reads, new come in. 685. Allen. Sir Thomas Allen, an old Cavalier, had routed near Cadiz a large Dutch merchant fleet, on its way home from Smyrna, and had taken valuable prizes. [SCOTT.] 687. Holmes. Sir Robert Holmes had begun the war by aggressions on the coast of Guinea. He is compared here to Achates, the faithful follower of Æneas. 689. Gen'rals'. O and Q read gen'rals, which may mean either gen'ral's or gen'rals'. 691. Cato. Plutarch tells how Cato the Censor, as an argument for the destruction of Carthage, exhibited some fresh figs in the Roman senate, and reminded his hearers that they had been gathered in Africa, only three days' sail from Rome. Cf. 712, 19, n. 693. Sprag. Sir Edward Sprag [Spragge). knighted and appointed rear admiral for bravery shown in the fight off Lowestoft. 695. Harman. Sir John Harman, who saved his vessel, the Henry, after it had twice been set on fire by the Dutch, in the battle of June 1-4. 697. Hollis. Sir Frescheville Hollis, who had lost an arm in the battle of June 3. His father had been distinguished in the civil wars; why his mother is here called a Muse is unknown. [SCOTT.] 701. Thousands, etc. A reminiscence of Virgil, as Christie indicates: cf. 583, 397, 398. 42, 734. Hosts. O reads host. 736. Levat, etc. Eneid, i. 145, 146: ef. 524, 208, 209. 741. Second battle. On July 25 and 26, 1666. 742. Hast'ning. O reads hasting. 760. Possunt, etc. Eneid, v. 231: cf. 582, 300. 43, 773. O famous leader, etc. Michael Adrian de Ruyter, chosen lieutenant admiral of the States in 1666. Dryden compares him to Varro, who commanded the Romans at the battle of Cannæ, in which they were fatally defeated by Hannibal, and to whom the senate voted thanks, "because he had not despaired of the Republic." [SCOTT.] 778. Close to fight. O reads, to the fight. 801. But whate'er, etc. "The poet here follows up the doctrine he has laid down by a very bold averment, that Henry IV of France, and the first Prince of Orange, instructed in sound policy by their translation to the blessed, would, the one disown the war against Henry III, into which he was compelled to enter to vindicate his right of succession to the crown against the immediate possessor, and the other detest the Dutch naval power, although the only means which could secure his country's independence." SCOTT. 813. Nor was this all, etc. In August, 1666, the English under Sir Robert Holmes destroyed a large Dutch merchant fleet near the Vlie, the strait between the islands of Vlieland and Terschelling, and then burnt a town on the latter island. 824. Turbants. O reads turbans. 825. English wool, etc. Professor Firth explains that the Dutch undersold English cloth manufacturers in foreign markets. English wool was exported to Holland, despite laws to the contrary. 827. Doom into. Destine for." SAINTSBURY. 44. 836 (margin). Transit. O reads Transitum. 847. Quum mare, etc. Slightly altered from Metamorphoses, i. 257, 258; cf. 391, 347-350. 863. All was the Night's, etc. The fire of London broke out on the night preceding September 2. The phrase, All was the Night's translates part of a line of Varro, Omnia noctis erant, placida composta quiete, quoted by the elder Seneca (Controversiæ, vii. 1 (16). 27). 881. Hæc arte, etc. "She artfully managed the greedy man, that privation might inflame his mind." Quoted freely from Terence, Heautontimorumenos, ii. 3. 125, 126. 45, 889. The Bridge. "London Bridge was a place allotted for affixing the heads of persons executed for treason. The skulls of the regicides, of the Fifth Monarchy insurgents, and of other fanatics, were placed on the Bridge and on other conspicuous places. The sabbath notes, imputed to this assembly of fanatic specters, are the infernal hymns chanted at the witches' sabbath—a meeting concerning which antiquity told and believed many strange things." [SCOTT.] Ghosts' voices were thought to be shrill and feeble. 922. A blaze. O reads the blaze. 922 (margin). Sigaa, etc. Eneid, ii. 312: cf. 541, 419, 420. 926. Simoeis. The river Xanthus, which had endeavored to drown Achilles, was nearly dried up by Hephæstus. During the conflict it had called for aid on its tributary Simois. Dryden remembered in a general way Homer's account of the battle in Iliad, xxi. 46, 939. Straggle. So O; Q reads struggle. 949. The king. "It is not indeed imaginable how extraordinary the vigilance and activity of the king and the duke was, even laboring in person, and being present to command, order, reward, or encourage workmen; by which he showed his affection to his people, and gained theirs." Evelyn's Diary, Sept. 6, 1666. 47, 1004. Tempests. O reads tempest. 48, 1057. Or, if, etc. On the prayer of King Charles, cf. 1 Chronicles xxi. 12, 13, 17. 1066. Spotted deaths. "In 1665 the plague* broke out in London with the most dreadful fury. In one year upwards of 90,000 inhabitants were cut off by this frightful visitation." [SCOTT.] 1077. Threatings. O reads threatnings. 1094. In dust. So O; Q reads, in the Dust. 49, 1099. A poet's song. Alluding to Waller's poem, addressed to Charles I, Upon his Majesty's Repairing of St. Paul's. The walls of Thebes were fabled to have been built by the music of Amphion's lyre: cf. 917, 1005. 1113. Th' empyrean heaven. The highest heaven, the abode of God and the angels. Thrones and the Dominions are the third and the fourth of the nine orders of angels. 1120. Drive on. O reads, give on. The 1121. An hollow, etc. "The flames of London are first a tallow candle; and secondly hawks, which, while pouncing on their quarry, are hooded with an extinguisher." [SCOTT.] 50, 1157. The Jews, etc. v. Ezra i-iii. 1165. Trines. Astrologers taught that a trine, that is, an aspect of two planets distant from each other 120 degrees (one third of the zodiac), had a benign influence. To this Dryden adds the happy omen of Jupiter in ascension. Cf. 182, 13, n; 758, 500, n. 1168. Works. O reads work. 1177 (margin). Augusta. Cf. 135, 64. 1185. A maiden queen. Compare the title of Dryden's play, 51. 1195. And Seine, etc. This refers to the designs of Louis XIV on the Spanish Netherlands. 51, 1211. Our trouble, etc. "The disgraceful surprise of Chatham, in 1667, baffled this prophecy." SCOTT. 4. The unities, etc. v. B. S. xix. 52, 16 (Epil.). [F]or. CGD reads or. PROLOGUE AND EPILOGUE TO THE WILD GALLANT, REVIV'D. Christie apparently makes a mistake in saying that these two pieces are printed in the Covent Garden Drollery. 53', 8 (Prol.). Whetstone's Park. This is a narrow street (now, and more usually in Dryden's time, called Whetstone Park) near Lincoln's Inn Fields. It was notorious for its brothels. Cf. 169', 31. ... 15. He thought, etc. Pepys, who saw a court performance of The Wild Gallant on February 23, 1663, writes: "The play [was] so little answering the name, that from beginning to end, I could not, nor can at this time, tell certainly which was the Wild Gallant." 532, 44. Vests. Charles II vainly attempted to introduce this garment into England. According to Pepys (October 15, 1666) the king's vest was a long cassock close to the body, of black cloth, and pinked with white silk under it, and a coat over it, and the legs ruffled with black riband like a pigeon's leg." Pepys adds: "Upon the whole, I wish the king may keep it, for it is a very fine and handsome garment." But on November 22 Pepys has received the news, "how the King of France hath, in defiance to the King of England, caused all his footmen to be put into vests, and that the noblemen of France will do the like; which, if true, is the greatest indignity ever done by one prince to another, and would incite a stone to be revenged." 54', 10 (Prol.). Woodcocks. This word was a cant term for simpleton. 2 (Epil.). Benediction. For the rhyme, cf. 2, 66, n. 542, 13 (Epil.). Lilly. William Lilly (1602-81), astrologer and almanac-maker. Cf. n. 11, 288. SONG I. In WD this song is headed, A Song at the Duke's House. The first line reads: "Make ready, fair Lady, to nights Innocence." SONG II. This song is imitated from one by Voiture, beginning, L'amour sous sa loi: see Euvres de Voiture, 1856, p. 493. 9. King Richard's. Referring, of course, to Shakespeare's Rickard III, v. 3. PROLOGUE TO ALBUMAZAR, REVIV'D. CGD contains the following variant readings: (4) and fewer; (6) And the best; (8) by this Astrologer; (9) and I should suppose; (10) He likes my fashion well, that wears my Cloaths; (12) became his Gold; (16) a word; (21) Who scarce; (28) They stript the living, but they rob the dead; (29) 'T will with the mummey; (30) to 'em; (33) Yet such in Poetry; (35) Such as in Sparta weight [sic] for Laurels stand; (37) their benefit; (39) Where Broth to claim there's no one has the courage; (40) after he has spit; (41) y' are all ; (43) thefts will; (45, 46) omitted in CGD; (47) Now should we Letters of reprizall seal. 7 (Prol.). Subtle. The chief character in Jonson's Alchemist. 562, 25. Toms. "This seems to have been a cant name for highwaymen." [SCOTT.] 572, 33. Thrice a year. A reference to Dryden's recent contract to furnish three plays a year for the King's Company. v. B. S. xx. 4. Like Jews, etc. Cf. 1 Kings xxii. 17. 16. The Feign'd Astrologue. Dryden's play, as the second title indicates, is imitated from Le Feint Astrologue of Thomas Corneille, who again was indebted to El Astrologo Fingido of Calderon. 22. This night or next. Referring to the discussions over the unity of time. v. B. S. xix. The whole action of the play, as the title would indicate, takes place in one evening. 591. SONG IV. This song is a duet between Wildblood and Jacintha, the lively hero and heroine of the play. 592, 14. And he, who servilely, etc. Dryden writes as follows in his preface to the second edition of Tyrannic Love: "For the little critics, who pleas'd themselves with thinking they have found a flaw in that line of the prologue, 'And he . . .,' as if I patroniz'd my own nonsense, I may reasonably suppose they have never read Horace. Serpit humi tutus, etc. [Ars Poet. 28] are his words: he who creeps after plain, dull, common sense, is safe from committing absurdities, but can never reach any height, or excellence of wit; and sure I could not mean that any excellence were to be found in nonsense." 18. A tyrant. Maximin, "tyrant of Rome," is the chief character in the play. '0', 30. St. Cathar'n. "In the Wentworth Papers Lady Wentworth and Lady Strafford, whose spelling of proper names is almost purely phonetic, write usually Cathern." (SAINTSBURY.] St. Catharine was the heroine of the play, the Royal Martyr. SONG. This is sung by a spirit, in order to tempt St. Catharine to love. 602, 1. This jest, etc. "The dress is said to have been begun by Nokes, a famous comic actor at the Duke's Theater, as a caricature of French attire when Henrietta of Orleans visited England in May, 1670." [SAINTSBURY.] 61, 27. They bring, etc. This may be a reference to The Indian Emperor; v. 21. 33. To like. As to like. 612, 38. French farce, etc. v. 65', 6; 731, 7: 741, 38. 19. When forty comes, etc. Dryden jests at his own expense; he was thirty-nine at the time. 25. This year's delay. Apparently alluding to the lapse of a year since the production of Tyrannic Love, despite Dryden's contract to write three plays a year. 26. The women were away. On Nell Gwyn, v. headnote; other actresses were apparently away for similar reasons. 621, 13. Vizard-mask. The mark of a courtesan. 622, EPILOGUE. To justify the arrogant tone of this epilogue Dryden published with the first three editions of his play a critical essay entitled Defense of the Epilogue; or, An Essay on the Dramatic Poetry of the Last Age. 6. Cob's tankard, etc. "The characters alluded to are Cob, the water-bearer, in Every Man in his Humor; and Captain Otter, in Epicane; or, The Silent Woman, whose humor it was to christen his drinking cups by the names of Horse, Bull, and Bear." SCOTT. ... 63. THE ZAMBRA DANCE. This heading merely indicates the occasion at which the song was sung in the play. The text of this song printed in WD under the title, A Song at the King's House, supplies the following variants: (2) Which none but Love, for; (6) Whilst; (7) Flowers, that; (8) bright Virgins; (10) temple shady; (14) that languish; (16) can my bliss and you; (17) lovely shade; (23) For rather then ; (27) And yet, Thus, thus, she cry'd; (32) I fancy I had done; (34) Whilst; (35) I must ease. The text printed in the same collection under the title, A Vision, supplies the following variants: (2) Which Jove for none; (10) white shoulders; (11) nor too; (13) ev'ry part; (16) will you; (17) by Jove this lonesome shade; (24) she spoke methought; (34) your scorn. SONG II. In WD the last line in each stanza is repeated. That text also furnishes the following variants: (8) heart burns; (11) mine eyes; (12) sweet dream; (14) Then I sigh; (15) being rival; (19) and ever. 64. PROLOGUE . . . AFTER THE FIRE. CGD supplies the following variants: (2) on bare; (4) from a desert; (10) of charity; (12) Whilst .. our guests; (13) besides; (16) cherish; (18) the Fire; (23-30) omitted in CGD. —WD supplies the following variants: (2, 4, 10, 12, 13, 18) as in CGD; (23) doth; (24) equald; (25) doth. 20. But as. Cf. 44, 847, 848. 65', 1. With sickly actors, etc. v. headnote, p. 64. 7. Broad bloody bills. Apparently the bills, or advertisements of the French troupe, were red, or printed in red ink. v. Lowe's Life of Betterton, pp. 14, 15. 12. Send lackeys. Seats were not reserved at this time: ibid. pp. 16-18. 652, 6. Wonted. The 1684 text reads wanted. 13. Burgundian. A slang term for bully, bragadoccio. v. N. E. D. under Burgullian. 14. Benches. The pit seats were apparently without backs. 23. Gaudy house. v. headnote, p. 64. 662, 26. Too. CGD reads two. 30. Mamamouchi. This refers to a play by Ravenscroft, The Citizen turned Gentleman, a free adaptation of Molière's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, which was acted at the Duke's Theater in 1671 or 1672. The citizen in the play is tricked into believing that he has been given the Turkish title of Mamamouchi, and is invested with the office amid much mock solemnity. PROLOGUE AND EPILOGUE TO MARRIAGE À LA MODE. These pieces were spoken, as we learn from CGD, by Hart and Mohun, the two chief actors in the King's Company, who played the parts of Palamede and Rhodophil, the principal male characters in the play. The humor of the comedy consists in a double intrigue, between Palamede and Doralice, the wife of Rhodophil, and between Rhodophil and Melantha, the betrothed of Palamede. Neither couple can gain their end, and at the close of the play all resolve to respect one another's rights. CGD furnishes the following variant readings: PROLOGUE, (4) While Wig and Vizzard Masks, no longer jar; (5) hath swept; (7, 8) found only in CGD; (9) went from home; (18) the grinning; (23) venter in ; (24) her half-Crown; (26) heardly roame; (28) with gaudy; (29) For 't is presumed; (31) cunning Morecraft, strut; (32) Here's all to do; (34, 37) them (for 'em); (38) falls. Epilogue, (7) example; (8) see and hear; (13) Women faulty bare; (14) them (for 'em); (15) were less; (17) Satyr lent; (18) would fret; (19) of Husband; (21) which of them; (26) are all; (31) Town, nor Court. 671, 5. France, etc. England was now in alliance with France against Holland. 18. Grinning honor. The phrase is borrowed from Shakespeare, 1 Henry IV, v. 3. 62. 24. Half-crown. The price of admission to the pit. 25. The Mall. A walk in St. James Park: pronounced Mell; cf. 1. 20 of EPILOGUE. 31. Cutting Morecraft. In Beaumont and Fletcher's play, The Scornful Lady, Morecraft, a usurer, turns a gallant, and hence receives the title cutting (swaggering, ruffling) Morecraft. Malone, and Scott following him, see here a reference to the Mamamouchi episode in Ravenscroft's Citizen turned Gentleman (v. n. 662, 30), which is of a somewhat similar character, but this conjecture is far from convincing. There may have been a revival of The Scornful Lady at the Duke's Theater, of which record is lost. 672, 32. The city. The wives of the city merchants were conventionally regarded as the lawful prey of men of society. 68. SONG I. This song is sung by Doralice at the opening of the play, and is overheard by Palamede, who straightway begins his addresses to her. It thus forms the keynote of the action of the comedy. NCS affords the following variants: (10) further joys; (12) can give; (15) When all; (16) And neither. SONG II. This is sung at a court masquerade. 682. A SONG. In CGD this song is addressed to variants: (1) Arminda; (8) a fall; (9) In Seas. 701, 30. Mamamouchi. v. n. 662, 30. The gibberish quoted below is passed off for Turkish upon the citizen in Ravenscroft's play. 36, 37. Touch you: Mamamouchi. For the rhyme, cf. ll. 40, 41, uneasy: please ye. 45. Haynes. Joseph Haynes, a noted comic actor, who played the part of Benito, the fool in Dryden's comedy. Cf. 2802, 20, n. 3. Coleman Street. "Coleman Street had an ancient notoriety. In Dekker's Seven Deadly Sins of London (1606), Lying 'musters together all the Hackneymen and Horse-coursers in and about Coleman-streete."" (WARD: History of English Dramatic Literature, iii. 327.) Cowley wrote a play called, Cutter of Coleman Street. Cf. n. 671, 31. 702. PROLOGUE... FROM AMBOYNA. The "cruelties of the Dutch" on which this play is founded occurred in 1622. Dryden dedicated Amboyna in terms of extravagant flattery to Lord Clifford, a colleague of the Earl of Shaftesbury in the Cabal ministry: cf. 4191, n. On the play, v. B. S. xxii. 71', 12. Love. The 1673 text reads loves, by an evident misprint. 22. States. Republics: the Dutch Republic was frequently called simply the States. 33. Least. The 1673 text reads lest; the text in the folio of 1701 reads less. 71, 1 (Epil.). A poet, etc. A reference to Tyrtæus, who inspired by his verses the Spartans, in their wars against the Messenians. 6. Boor. Spelled bore in the 1673 edition. 18. Two kings' touch. "The poet alludes to the king's evil [scrofula, which the king was supposed to heal by his touch], and to the joint war of France and England against Holland." SCOTT. 19. Cato. v. 41, 691, n. After the incident of the figs, Cato is said to have concluded every speech by urging that Carthage should be destroyed. The comparison of Holland to Carthage was common at the time: cf. 28, 17-20. Shaftesbury used of Holland the phrase Delenda est Carthago in a famous speech on the assembling of parliament in February, 1673, but this was after the date of Dryden's play. 73, 32. The Lucretian way. The reference is to the atomic theory, as set forth by Lucretius in his poem, De Rerum Natura. 40 Prætorian bands. The reference is to the violent election of Roman emperors by the Prætorian guards, in contrast to their legal choice by the senate. 7. A French troop. v. 612, 38: 651, 6; 741, 38. 732, 30. Macbeth, etc. This refers to the performance, at the Duke's Theater, of "the tragedy of Macbeth, altered by Sir William Davenant; being dressed in all its finery, as new clothes, new scenes: machines, as flyings for the witches; with all the singing and dancing in it." (DOWNES.) It was apparently first acted in 1667 and revived with greater magnificence in 1672, when it proved "a lasting play." It is notable that Dryden here seems to ridicule Davenant, whom, as we know, in general he valued highly at this time: cf. 242, 22, n. For the comparison with Simon Magus (Simon the Sorcerer), see Acts viii. 9. 74, 36. Empty operas. v. n. 732, 30. 38. While troops. v. 612, 38; 651, 6; 731, 7. 742, 53. Machines and tempests. This refers to the performance at the Duke's Theater of "The Tempest... made into an opera by Mr. Shadwell, having all new in it, as scenes, machines: particularly one scene painted with myriads of Ariel [sic] spirits; and another flying away, with a table furnished out with fruits, sweetmeats and all sorts of viands, just when Duke Trinculo and his companions were going to dinner." (DOWNES.) Cf. 909, 90, n; and see supplementary note in Additions and Correc tions. 7. Thro'. Tho' in the 1684 text, probably by a mere misprint. 22. But leave you, etc. "This seems to be an allusion to the recent death of a Mr. Scroop, who, about this time, was stabbed in the theater at Dorset Gardens by Sir Thomas Armstrong. Langbaine says he witnessed this real tragedy, which happened during the representation of Macbeth, as altered and revised by Davenant." [ScOTT.] 751, 27. Our house relieves, etc. That is, Drury Lane was a more convenient situation for a theater than Dorset Gardens, where the rival house, the Duke's Theater, was situated. 32. Three boys in buff. This may possibly be a reference to a droll, The Three Merry Boys, founded on the comic scenes in Beaumont and Fletcher's Rollo, which was acted during the suppression of the theaters: see Ward, English Dramatic Literature, ii. 734; or perhaps, to the comic parts of Rollo itself. Scott, however, supposes that there is a reference to The Bold Beauchamps, an old play ascribed to Thomas Heywood, which must have been quite forgotten by Dryden's time. 33. The poets' heads. "Some part of the ornaments of Davenant's scenes probably presented the portraits of dramatic writers." SCOTT. Really, busts of the dramatic writers. That of Shakespeare was recovered in 1845: v. Sidney Lee, Life of Shakespeare, ch. xviii. 752, 13. Man, the little world, etc. Man was termed the microcosm, or little universe, in opposition to the exterior universe, or macrocosm. The sphere of crystal is described in Spenser's Faerie Queene, iii. 2. 18, 19. 24. Muses so severe. There is an implied reference to Martial, ix. 12 (11). 16, 17: Nobis non licet esse tam disertis, Qui Musas colimus severiores: "We who serve severer Muses cannot be so eloquent." Cf. 3852, 48; 5121, 36. 27. Rather than, etc. Cf. Exodus xxxiii. 20-23. 761, EPILOGUE TO OXFORD. The other text of this epilogue (see headnote) reads in l. 4, He sought for quiet; and in l. 25, Whose kindness. 17. Bathurst. Ralph Bathurst (1620-1704) was vice chancellor of the University of Oxford from October 3, 1673, to October 9, 1676. (WOOD, Fasti Oxonienses.) He was celebrated as a writer of Latin prose and verse. 771, 21. These peaceful triumphs, etc. On the Continent France was now at war with a coalition led by the Prince of Orange. Charles II was seeking to remain on good terms with both sides in the struggle. 29. One. So the 1684 text: SS. and C. read own, which may be what the author intended. PROLOGUE TO AURENG-ZEBE. On this play, v. B. S. xxiii; and on the substance of the Prologue, cf. the passage quoted from the Dedication, in B. S. xxvi, xxvii. The play was probably acted in the spring or summer of 1675, since the entry in the Stationers' Register usually followed about half a year after the first production. It is entered in the Term Catalogue for Easter term, 1676. 12. Correct. Constructed according to the rules of dramatic criticism. Cf. the opening lines of the Epilogue. 15. Romans. Perhaps this should be printed Roman's, in reference to Antony and Cleopatra. Duke, in a poem addressed to Dryden (v. SS. vi. 288) has the line: Envy not now the godlike Roman's rage. 772, 22. The first, etc. Dryden feels himself superior to the other authors of heroic plays, such as Settle and Crowne, but inferior to the great Elizabethan dramatists. 37. We and our neighbors, etc. This refers to the rivalry of the two theaters. For the comparison, v. 771, 21, n. 781, 21. Silk-weavers. "Enemies, namely, like the English silk-weavers, to the manufactures of France." SCOTT. 22. Bear Garden. "Alluding to the prize fighting with broadswords at the Bear Garden." [SCOTT.] EPILOGUE TO THE MAN OF MODE. "Sir Fopling Flutter was supposed to represent Sir George Hewet, one of the most choice coxcombs of the period. The satire being in fact personal, it followed as a matter of course that the Epilogue should disclaim all personality, that |