wit, would not have been the only fong he had left us to commend. Lovelace, L'Eftrange, and Shirley, were also writers of songs in this reign.

The reign of Charles the Second is the Auguftan age of fong: no period having produced fo great a number of excellent writers in this fpecies of poetry. This prince was not only the admirer and patron of the art, he cultivated it hisfelf. We have a fong of his, beginning

I pass all my hours in a fhady old grove,

which, though by no means remarkable for poetical merit, has certainly enough for the compofition of a king. Dryden was undoubtedly great in every species of poetry, but the fongs of Etherege, Eaton, Sedley, Rochefter, Dorfet, and Sheffield (afterwards duke of Bucks), are mafter-pieces in this; fome of them being abfolutely without equal in the language. Amongit thefe is to be ranked Dorfets incomparable addrefs to the ladies, written at fea, on the eve of an engagement (145)

Otways pathetic remonftrance to his inexorable miftrefs, would have entitled him to the character of an elegant writer, even if it had been his only compofition. Scroop, Walth, and many other fong-writers of merit, are to be fingled out of

The mob of gentlemen who wrote with ease.

Mrs. Behn deferves a more particular acknowlegement. And we should do injuftice to a laborious, and, according to his own account, moft fuccefsful and happy writer, were we to omit the honoured name of Tom D'Urfey; who, befides that he compofed more fongs, perhaps, than all his contemporaries put together; moft of them being great favourites with the nation, and many of them ftill remaining fo, particularly his loyal ode of Joy to great Cæfar; which, once ecchoed by all ranks, is yet frequently chanted with delight; and, as mr. Ad

(145) It is strange that any perfon fhould be fo blind to the plaintive tenderness of this elegant performance as to miftake the wit and point with which it abounds for intentional burlesque!

difon

difon pleasantly obferves, gave the Whigs (to whom honeft Tom was a fworn foe, till he lived to fee them get into power) a blow they were never able to recover during that reign; was a very good musician, and poffeffed an excellent voice; with which he had frequently the high honour to entertain his majefty at Newmarket and elfewhere; the good-natured monarch familiarly condefcending to hold the paper, and accompany his artful ftrains, or beat the time by gentle taps upon his fhoulder (146).

The fhort time of the mifguided and unfortunate James might pafs unnoticed. We only difcover, in the party fongs of this period, the most rancourous hatred difplayed in the groffeft fcurrility. But what an aftonishing effect thefe vulgar and defpicable rhapfodies had upon the temper of the times, we may, in fome meafure conjecture from the brags of that unprincipled character, lord (afterwards marquis of) Wharton, who was wont to boast that, by the moft foolish of them all (147), he had rimed the king out of his dominions.

James was not infenfible to the powers of poetry and wit; he had conceived a great friendship for Wycherly, on whom he bestowed many favours. We mention this poet as a fong-writer; but all his performances, as fuch, however well adapted they might be to the licentious manners and too luxuriant wit of his age, are now defervedly neglected.

The Revolution, one may be certain, did not take place without giving rife to numbers of fongs and ballads both for and against that important event. But all of them are too ftrongly tinctured with the venom of party, to retain the leaft appearance of merit.

The prince who obtained poffeffion of the vacant throne was too much of the phlegmatic Dutchman to be fenfible of the merit, or fufceptible of the power of

(146) The king understood mufic fufficiently to fing the tenor part of an eafy fong. He would fometimes fing with mr. Goftling, one of the gentlemen of his chapel, who was mafter of a fine voice; the duke of York accompanying them on the guitar. Hawkins, IV. 359. (147) Lilliburlero. See Percy. II. 367.

poetry,

poetry, mufic, or fong. Even the harp of Orpheus would have made no impreffion upon him. Her majefty, however, as we learn from a curious anecdote, had not facrificed to a throne her infantine relish for the homely English ballad (148).

Prior is the firft poet of eminence we meet with after this period. His fongs are numerous; most of them are fpirited, ingenious, and witty; a few are tender, fentimental and pathetic; all excellent of their kind. Lanfdown, a writer of name, has left us some indifferent fongs. Congreve, gay, fpritely, and licentious, toot frequently fuffered his wit to furprise his judgement. The little piece, however, beginning

Falfe though she be to me and love,

is no unpleafing proof of what he was capable of. The fongs of Rowe, on the contrary, are all foft, tender and plaintive. The confequence is, that his DeSpairing Shepherd will be admired when Buxom Joan is entirely forgotten.

With Steel, who has left fuch a favorable specimen of his talents for two different kinds of fong, the tender and the lively, as to make us regret they were not more exerted, we may commence the reign of queen Ann.

(148) The queen having a mind one afternoon to be entertained "with mufic, fent to mr. Goftling, then one of the chapel, and af"terwards fubdean of St. Pauls, to Henry Purcell and mrs. Arabella "Hunt, who had a very fine voice, and an admirable hand on the "lute, with a request to attend her; they obeyed her commands; "mr, Goftling and mrs. Hunt fung feveral compofitions of Purcell, "who accompanied them on the harpfichord; at length the queen be"ginning to grow tired, afked mrs. Hunt if he could not fing the "old Scots ballad Cold and Raw', mrs. Hunt anfwered yes, and "fung it to her lute. Purcell was all the while fitting at the harpfi"chord unemployed, and not a little nettled at the queen's preference "of a vulgar bailad to his mufic; but feeing her majefty delighted "with this tune, he determined that the fhould hear it upon another "occafion; and accordingly in the next birth-day fong, viz, that for "the year 1692, he compofed an air to the words, May her bright "example chace vice in troops out of the land,' the bafs whereof is "the tune to Cold and Raw; it is printed in the fecond part of the "Orpheus Britannicus, and is note for note the fame with the Scots "tune." Hawkins, IV. 6,

Philipses

Philipses happy verfion of Sappho is deservedly esteemed a confiderable acquifition to English fong. The name of Addison will do the fubject more credit than the two pieces to which it could with certainty be prefixed may be thought to do him. The firft of them, however, is in the true spirit of Rochester, and has abundant merit. And there is fome reafon to fufpect that many of his best fongs have been ufually printed either under a different name, or without any name at all. Tickell has united the tendereft fentiments with the moft interefting narrative: Colin and Lucy is unrivaled. Of the few fongs of Parnell, though none of them feems to be remarkable for that peculiar fweetnefs which diftinguishes his more ferious compofitions, the little paftoral in the present volume has been always admired. Hill, without his affectation and love of conceit, would have been, if not a poet, a fong-writer of eminence. He is one of thofe writers whom we can hardly praife, and must be loth to condemn. Byroms beautiful and celebrated paftoral fong of Colin and Phoebe was the production of this æra. Of this fpecies of fong fimplicity is the principal requifite, but even fimplicity may be affected, exceffive and puerile, and fuch has, not, perhaps, without reason, been pronounced the fault of this popular performance; though much may, doubtlefs, be alledged in extenuation of it, from the nature of his fubject and the practice of greater writers.

Gay, the accomplished, the inimitable Gay, is the ornament of the enfuing reign. The infinite obligations which the lovers of fong are under to this admirable writer can never be fufficiently expreffed. Lively, humourous, witty, elegant, tender and pathetic; happy and fuccefsful in whatever the univerfality of his genius prompted him to undertake; his fpirit, his fentiment, his language are pure nature; and, while a love of poetry and fong, or a particle of tafte remains among us, will certainly be remembered, and must always pleafe. The ingenious and libertine duke of Wharton is a fong-writer of this period. Booth, Croxall, Concanen, Budgell, lady M. W. Montague, fir W. Yonge,

and

and others, are intitled, with various degrees of merit, to the fame character. Carey ought not to be mentioned without every commendation. His happy fimplicity and unaffected manner intereft and charm the reader of natural tafte. Sally in our ally was a particular favourite of mr. Addison; and his judgment, which, however, wants no countenance, is confirmed by its popularity.

The name of Pope will shed a luftre over the long reign of George II. in which we have the gratification to introduce him. The fingle performance he condefcended to leave is an exquifite parody or fatirical imitation, written in 1733, in the character of " a perfon of "quality," of the fashionable fing-fong of that and the preceding age. It was inadvertently omitted in the collection, but the reader will not be forry to find it here.