"This laft word, Mr. Hobbes told me, was the occafion of their writing. "Here he lay'd an ingeniofe defigne to carry a confiderable number of artificers (chiefly weavers) from hence to Virginia; and by Mary the Q's. mother's meanes he got favour from the K. of France to goe into the prifons, and pick and chufe: fo when the poor dammed wretches understood, what the defigne was, they cryed uno ore, tout tifferan, we are all weavers. Well, 36, as I remember, he got, if not more, and fhipped them; and as he was in his voyage towards Virginia, he and his tifferan were all taken by the fhips then belonging to the parliament of England. The flaves, I fuppofe, they fold, but Sir William was brought prifoner into England. Whether he was firft a prifoner in Carefbroke Caftle in the Ifle of Wight, or at the Towr of London, I have forgott; he was prifoner at both: his Gondibert was finished at Caref broke Castle. He expected no mercy from the parliament, and had no hopes of escaping with his life. It pleafed God,that the two aldermen of Yorke aforefaid, hearing that he was taken and brought to London to be tryed for his life, which they understood was in extreme danger, they were touched with fo much generofity and goodnes, as upon their own accounts and mere motion to try what they could to fave Sir William's life, who had been fo civil to them, and a means of faving theirs; to come to London; and acquainting the parliament with it, upon their petition, etc. Sir William's life was faved. 'Twas Mr. Warton obferves to me, that "Aubrey does not say here that Milton (with the two aldermen) was inftrumental in faving D'Avenant's life. Dr. Johnfon is puzzled on what authority to fix this anecdote. Life of Milton, p. 181, 8vo. edit. I believe that anecdote was first retailed in print by Wood, Ath. Oxon. II. 412.” Harry Martyn, that faved Sir William's life in the houfe: when they were talking of facrificing one, then faid Hen. that in facrifices they always offered pure and without blemish; now ye talk of making a facrifice of an old rotten rafcal.' Vid. H. Martyn's life, where by this rare jeft, then forgot, the L. Falkland faved H. Martyn's life. Being freed from imprisonment, because plays (fcil. trage. and comedies) were in these presbyterian times fcandalous, he contrives to fet up an opera, ftylo recitativo; wherein Sergeant Maynard and feveral citizens were engagers: it began in Rutland House in Charter-house-yard: next, fcilicet anno-at the Cock-pit in Drury Lane, where were acted very well, ftylo recitativo, Sir Francis Drake, and the Siege of Rhodes, 1ft and 2nd part. It did affect the eie and eare extremely. This first brought SCENES in fashion in England: before, at plays was only an hanging.+ "Anno Domini 1660, was the happy restauration of his Majefty Charles IInd.; then was Sir William made and the TennisCourt in Little Lincoln's Inn Fields was turned into a playhouse for the Duke of York's players, where Sir William had lodgings, and where he dyed, Aprill -166—. I was at his funeral : he had a coffin of walnut tree: Sir John Denham faid, that it was the finest coffin that he ever saw. His body was carried in a hearse from the playhoufe to Westminster-Abbey,, where at the_great weft dore he was received by the fing [ing] men and chorifters, who fang the fervice of the church (I am the Refurrection, etc. etc.) to his grave, which + Here we have another and a decifive confirmation of what has been stated in a former page on the subject of scenes. See P. 197, et feq. is near to the monument of Dr. Ifaac Barrow, which is in the South Croffe aifle, on which in a paving ftone of marble is writt, in imitation of that on Ben. Johnfon, O rare Sir William Dave nant. "His first lady was Dr. - 's daughter, phyfitian, by whom he had a very beautiful and ingeniofe fon, that dyed above twenty years fince. His fecond lady was daughter of -, by whom he had feveral children. I faw fome very young ones at the funerall. His eldeft is Charles D'Avenant, the Doctor, who inherits his father's beauty and phancy. He practices at Doctor's Commons. He writt a play called Circe, which has taken very well. Sir William hath writt about 25 plays, the romance called Gondibert, and a little poem called Madagafcar. "His private opinion was, that religion at last e. g. a hundred years hence] would come to fettlement; and that in a kind of ingeniofe Quakerifme.' 995 "The following plays, written by Sir William D'Avenant, were licensed by the Mafter of the Revels in the following order: The Cruel Brother, Jan. 12, 1626-7. The Colonel, July 22. 1629. The Wits, Jan. 19, 1633-4. Love and Honour, Nov. 20, 1634. News from Plymouth, Aug. 1, 1635. Platonick Lovers, Nov. 16, 1635. Britannia Triumphans, licenfed for prefs, Jan. 8, 1637. Unfortunate Lovers, April 16, 1638. Fair Favourite, Nov. 17, 1638. The Spanish Lovers, Nov. 30, 1639. This piece is probably the play which in his works is called The Diftreffes. Love and Honour was originally called The Courage of Love. It VOL. II. Ff On the 9th of Novemb. 1671, D'Avenant's company removed to their new theatre in Dorfet was afterwards named by Sir Henry Herbert, at D'Avenant's requeft, The Nonpareilles, or the Matchlefs Maids. In 1668 was published Sir William D'Avenant's Voyage to the other World, with his Adventures in the Poet's Elizium, written by Richard Flecknoe, which I fubjoin to the memoirs of that poet. Confifting of only a fingle fheet, the greater part of the impreffion has probably perifhed, for I have never met with a fecond copy of this piece: "Sir William D'Avenant being dead, not a poet would afford him so much as an elegie; whether because he fought to make a monopoly of the art, or ftrove to become rich in spight of Minerva : it being with poets as with mushrooms, which grow onely on barren ground, inrich the foyl once, and then degenerate: onely one, more humane than the reft, accompany'd him to his grave with this eulogium : • Now Davenant's dead, the ftage will mourn, • Great was his wit, his fancy great, • And more advantage none e'er made • Not onely Dedalus' arts he knew, And living machins made of men, "Another went further yet, and ufing the privilege of your antient poets, who with allmost as much certainty as your divines, Gardens, which was opened, not with one of can tell all that paffes in the other world, did thus relate his voyage thither, and all his adventures in the poets' elyzium. "As every one at the inftant of their deaths, have paffports given them for fome place or other, he had his for the poets' elyzium; which not without much difficulty he obtained from the officers of Parnaffus: for when he alledg'd, he was an heroick poet, they afk'd him why he did not continue it? when he said he was a dramatick too, they afk'd him, why he left it off, and onely ftudied to get mony; like him who fold his horfe to buy him provender and finally, when he added, he was a poet laureate, they laugh'd, and said, bayes was never more cheap than now; and that fince Petrarch's time, none had ever been legitimately crown'd. "Nor had he lefs difficulty with Charon, who hearing he was rich, thought to make booty of him, and afk'd an extraordinary price for his paffage over; but coming to payment, he found he was fo poor, as he was ready to turn him back agen, he having hardly fo much as his naulum, or the price of every ordinary pasfenger. Being arriv'd, they were all much amaz'd to fee him there, they having never heard of his being dead, neither by their weekly gazets, nor cryers of verfes and pamphlets up and down; (as common a trade there, almoft as it is here:) nor was he lefs amaz'd than they, to find never a poet there, antient nor modern, whom in fome fort or other he had not difoblig'd by his difcommendations; as Homer, Virgil, Taffo, Spencer, and efpecially Ben. Johnson; contrary to Plinies rule, never to difcommend any of the fame profeffion with our felves: for either they are better or worse than you (fays he); if better, if they be not worthy commendations, you much lefs; if worse, if they be worth commendations, you much more: fo every ways advantagious 'tis for us to commend others.' Nay, even Shakespear, whom he thought to have found his greatest friend, was as much offended with him as any of the reft, for fo fpoiling and mangling of his plays. But he who moft vext and tormented him, was his old antagonist Jack Donne, who mock'd him with a hundred paffages out of Gondibert; and after a world of other railing and spightful language (at which the doctor was excellent) fo exafperated the knight, at last, as they fell together by the ears: when but imagine What tearing nofes had been there, Had they but nofes for to tear.' John Donne, the eldeft fon of Donne the poet, was a Civilian. He is faid to have met with a misfortune fimilar to that of D'Avenant. |