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Low is my porch, as is my fate,
Both void of state;

And yet the threshold of my door

Is worne by the poor.

The Dirge of Jephtha is also beautiful; the classical reader will notice the Græcism in these lines:

Thou wonder of all maids list here,
Of daughters all, the dearest dear;
The eye of virgins, nay the Queen
Of this smooth green,

And all sweet meads from whence we get
The primrose and the violet.

If to these poems we add the Christmas Carol, the StarSong, and the White Island, or Place of the Blest, I think it will be granted that Herrick's most lasting fame is derived from his sacred compositions. The sentiments of some of his songs have unfortunately disposed us to regard him as the reverse of a religious poet; but he has told us, that although his rhymes were wild, "his life was chaste;" and impurity, we may believe, could never linger long in a mind that could give utterance to thoughts of so much feeling. Let us hope that when, in his touching words (to God in his sickness), he made his home in darkness and sorrow, the mercy of Him in whom he trusted, did indeed renew him, even although “withered flower*."

His Prayer for Absolution is full of piety
For these my unbaptized rhymes,
Writ in my wild unhallow'd times,
For every sentence, clause, and word,
That's not inlaid with thee, O Lord,
Forgive me, God, and blot each line
Out of my book that is not thine;
But if 'mongst all thou findest one
Worthy thy benediction,

That one of all the rest shall be
The glory of my work, and me.

THOMAS HEYWOOD was one of the most prolific dramatists in an age abounding in works of that description. He says, in the preface to the English Traveller, that he had "an entire hand, or at least a main finger," in two hundred and twenty plays. His copiousness was not the result of weakness. Charles Lamb has commended, in fitting terms, that tearful pathos which cuts to the heart. But his name is only admitted into these pages in the more honourable character of a Sacred Poet. The Hierarchie of the Blessed Angels was published in 1635, and dedicated to Charles the First. It was the produce of his old age, and he cautions the reader in the preface "not to expect any new conceits from old heads," or to look for " 'green fruit from withered branches." The melody and grace of his dramas will be sought for in vain; unlike Sir Philip Sidney's poet, he does not present the reader at the entrance of the vineyard with a bunch of grapes, so that "full of the delicious flavour he may long to pass in farther:" his manner, on the contrary, is somewhat harsh and unpolished, and he leads him through difficult and abrupt places; but the rugged path frequently ends in a garden. The poem is divided into nine books, to each of which is appended a commentary, evincing the writer's intimate acquaintance with the abstruser studies of theology. Modern students will hardly be persuaded to turn to this ponderous volume, yet it would well repay the trouble of perusal. Some of the Meditations possess a stern and solemn severity.

coachman, and that they were both brought in so hu that their lives were in danger. Of that imprudent, not disgraceful, attempt, misbeseeming his person, endeavoured to prevent as much dishonour as I mig by a little poem, as I thought it my duty, in regard executed the supreme office at that time."

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This little poem was the Vaticinium Casuale, or a Rap ture for the late Miraculous Deliverance of his Highnes the Lord Protector from a desperate danger.' The poe who felt the ludicrous situation of his hero, attempte to elevate the dignity of the modern coachman by comparison with the charioteer of the Olympic game But his Rapture contained something more valuabl than flattery. He did not hesitate to remind Cromwe of the nature of his office, and of the penalty which woul hereafter be exacted for every act of injustice.

"After this," continues Wither, "he (Cromwell) calle on me again, as if his mind had not been wholly change and referred the said Papers to his Privy Council, w referred them to a Sub-Committee, of which Sir Gilbe Pickering being one, gave it a high approbation, and w pleased to say he did not flatter me; but from that tim forward I heard no more of it. Another service I di which much tended to his and the public safety, where Sir Gilbert Pickering is privy likewise; and in con sideration of the fore-mentioned services, the said Pr tector, having without my asking that, or any thing els (but to be relieved according to justice from my oppre sions which I could not obtain) gave me the Statute Offic and afterwards made it of little worth unto me, becaus‹ as I conceive, I exprest my thankfulness for it by de claring unto him those truths which he was not willin to hear of."

Sir Gilbert Pickering was one of the Protector's

council, but he is remembered with more interest as the kinsman and early patron of Dryden. During Wither's frequent visits to the closet at Whitehall, and the table of Cromwell, it is not improbable that he may have met the illustrious Milton, who had been made Latin Secretary in the spring of 1649, and his connexion with Sir Gilbert Pickering was likely to introduce him into the society of Dryden. No mention of either, however, occurs in any of his works.

The poem called the Protector, published in 1655, in which Wither illustrated the dignity of the office, and, as he thought," rationally" proved it the most honourable of all titles, contributed to awaken the gratitude of Cromwell. Of this poem, we discover from a MS. note, a second impression enlarged appeared in 1656, probably containing a tribute of thanks to Oliver for the appointment to the Statute Office. Of the nature of this situation I am not able to give any account; it was, I conclude, synonymous with the Record Office bestowed upon Prynne after the Restoration.

The titular distinction of the New Governor is known to have been the subject of frequent discussion; and Wither, on the 7th of October, 1657, attempted to clear up the difficulty by a Suddain Flash, showing why the style of Protector should be continued. Our poet was not the only offerer of this grateful incense. Waller had already hailed the elevation of the "Lord Protector" with what has been pronounced by Johnson, with little justice, his famous panegyric. Of the author of the Ram' 'er, it is the writer's wish to speak with the respect due to his lofty intellect, his Christian philosophy, and his dignified morality; but from some of his poetical

decisions he may be pardoned for appealing. Wall has long enjoyed a prominent place among the Briti poets, to the exclusion of more deserving candidat Prior had said, that Denham and Waller improved o versification, and Dryden perfected it; and subseque critics have admitted the assertion without hesitatio Yet Wither showed a mastery over the language lo before Denham or Waller had printed a line; and ev from his most negligent works might be extracted lin equal, if not superior, to any thing in Waller's panegyr

If we may credit Wood, the favour of Cromwell w not limited to the gift of the Statute Office. The il natured antiquary says, that he made the poet Majo General of all the horse and foot in the county of Surre in which employment "he licked his fingers suff ciently, gaining thereby a great odium from the genero loyalists." The institution of Major-Generals, and th division of England and Wales into districts immediatel under their military jurisdiction, was a scheme worth of the usurper. From the decrees of these martia judges there was no appeal. They sent whom the pleased to prison, says one of their founder's warmes admirers, and confined them where they pleased Among the victims of this oppressive regulation, wa the celebrated Jeremy Taylor, who suffered a confine ment of some months in Chepstow Castle. But Wood' statement respecting Wither is unfounded. If the poe

"licked his fingers," it was not in the capacity of Major-General. Colonel Kelsey was appointed Major General of Kent and Surrey, and Colonel Goffe filled the same situation in Hampshire.

On the 3rd of September, 1658, Cromwell died, and

• Godwin's History of the Commonwealth, vol. iv., p. 242.

*

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