saying he will be for them." Wither urged him to continue the stedfast champion of the Republic; how far he followed that advice is well known. The Furor Poeticus obtained no relief for the petitioner. For nearly seventeen years had he been pouring out his complaints in public and in private, writing "many hundreds of poems, papers, and petitions," beside MS. addresses delivered nto the hands of the two Protectors, and all with no more success than if he had supplicated "the Statues in Westminster Abbey, or Whitehall Garden." During this long and anxious season of hope deferred, the quiet beauty of his native hamlet frequently came back upon his heart, and he longed to dwell again "by the wood-side in a country village." He was, however, still engaged in agricultural pursuits, although prevented, by his occupation in London from visiting his farm more than two or three times in the year, and he expressed a fear, that owing to his increasing poverty, the land would soon be left unstocked. His enemies appear to have been more active than his friends, having not only obtained the omission of his name in the Commission of the Peace for Hampshire, but in the Militia also; these were severe trials to the poet, now past his seventieth year, and, in his own words, worn out by oppression. After pathetically alluding to his depressed condition, and the want of sufficient funds to meet, with punctuality, the demands of his creditors, he continues: "To preserve myself as much as I could from this vexation and scandal, and to supply my personal wants (occasioned by other men deceiving my hopes), I have been enforced to sell away above 2000l. worth of my then remaining livelihood, real and personal, and am still engaged, by my continuing oppressions, in almost as much more, though I have, since the sales last mentioned, sold by parcels, to the dismembering of my inheritance, all that was disengaged, and at my free disposal. Yea, the consumption goes on, insomuch that the remainder of the portion left in possession (unless part of that which is due to me may be paid to free it from incumbrance) is likely to be forfeited within a few months. And though forfeiture should be saved, my revenue will not be sufficient to discharge taxes and parochial payments with the interest of my remaining debts, and unavoidable expenses by them unusually occasioned, and afford a maintenance for myself, my wife, children, and servants (though a far less number than heretofore), after the rate of five shillings the week one person with another, throughout the year, to provide meat, drink, raiment, servants' wages, children's portions, and all other necessaries in sickness and in health. And what is worse than all, I, whose credit was so good that when occasion heretofore required it, have borrowed 100l., 2001., 300l., yea, 6007., in one place for several years upon my single bond (as will yet appear by the bonds cancelled), am now doubtful whether my security will pass alone for 101." * * * So poor was he, indeed, that when he heard the intention of the Parliament to rate him at two horses for the service of the militia, he professed himself scarcely able to find them even bridles. His losses amounted to nearly ten thousand pounds. He had been ejected from his share of Denham's estate in 1654, having never, during the period he possessed it, "made one penny of clear profit by reason of interruption;" and a small parcel of land he had purchased at Ash, in Surrey, in 1651, had been taken from him, and was detained, in spite of his remonstrances, by a member of the Parliament. His creditors also contributed to increase his sufferings by legal expenses, and he at length found himself reduced from an income of 7001. per annum, to comparative destitution. Some affecting passages are scattered through the Speculum Speculativum. If, as his conscience told him, he had neglected the Almighty in the hour of his prosperity, he remembered Him in loneliness, in poverty, and in tears. At "seventy years and two" he looked forward with feelings of joyful anticipation to the end of his pilgrimage, consoling himself with the certainty of singing "care and life away" in a few brief years or months. His former friends had forsaken him, or were ranged on the side of his enemies, and he bitterly complained that his greatest persecutions were caused by those who Many days Walked with him friendlike in the self-same ways. In his Hymn of Confession and Praise, he poured out the earnest prayers of a religious heart. Therefore take thou no care, For God thy help will be, And that (should it be told) That never will be dry! Many verses might be quoted from the same compo sition, equally touching, and marked by the same pure and Christian resignation *. Deserted by those whom he had assisted with his labours and fortune, having borrowed money for their use, for which he was obliged to pay interest out of his own pocket, he looked forward to the restoration of the exiled Prince with mingled anticipations of hope and danger. He was weary of the hypocrisy and selfishness of the political charlatans who sacrificed the public good to their personal aggrandizement, and his early respect and attachment to the monarchy began to revive. Immediately after the Restoration, he joined in the universal welcome to the King, and "wanting better gifts," brought A little cluster of those grapes that grew an offering he had intended to present with his own hand, had not the difficulty of gaining access to the royal presence prevented him. It is only just to remark that the congratulation was unblemished by the gross flattery which characterised similar productions, and he honestly declared, that knowing nothing of the virtues of Charles, he was unable to write a panegyric in their praise. But a new storm was already gathering over the poet's head. The church-lands he had purchased of the Parliament were forcibly seized, before the King's • In the same spirit is a supplication for his family: In mercy, too, remember me and mine, Increase our faith; keep close our hearts to thine To mark the murm'rings, the distrust, or fear, Our failings, that we stumble not to fall. Speculum Speculativum, p. 120. commissioners had time to decide upon the merits of the question, and the remainder of his stock and goods was taken away in the night. In the Fides Anglicana, or a Plea for the Public Faith of these Nations, he dwelt upon his wrongs with considerable ingenuity*. The right of the prelates to the lands of which they had been despoiled was of course unquestionable, but the summary mode employed to dispossess him was contrary to the Royal Declaration. Wither's situation, at this time, offers a singular contrast to that of his old enemy, Sir John Denham. While our poet was sitting in his solitary chamber on the morning of the Coronation-day, Denham, we are told by Pepys, was leading a party of friends into the Abbey. The loss of his lands formed only a small portion of Wither's calamity. While engaged in writing a political address † to the Members of Parliament, his room was suddenly entered, and the MS. taken from him, together with a large bag full of books and letters, which was carried away by a porter. He says that the seizure was made without any legal authority, but it appears to have been effected under a warrant from Secretary Nicholas. This must have taken place at the beginning of August 1661, for on the 12th of that month he addressed a poem to his friends, from "Mr. Northrops, one of the King's Messengers, in Westminster," where, he adds, he was civilly used." On the 22nd he was removed to Newgate, and soon after petitioned the • He says in the Speculum Speculativum— I bought these lands without offending My conscience, or a wrong to them intending. + Vor Vulgi, being a welcome home from the Counties, Cities, and Boroughs, to their prevaricating Members. * Kennet's Register, p. 648. |