Not kindled before by others pains, In the year 1618 this author died at Middleburgh in Zealand, aged 55 years, and had the following epitaph made on him by his great admirer John Vicars beforementioned, but we do not find that it was put upon his tomb-ftone. Here lies (death's too rich prize) the corpfe interr'd Of Joshua Sylvefter Du Bartas Pier; A man of arts best parts, to God, man, dear; In foremost rank of poets best preferr'd. W SAMUEL DANIEL AS the fon of a mufic mafter, and born near Taunton in Somerfetfhire, in the year 1562. In 1579 he was admitted a commoner in Magdalen Hall in Oxford, where he remained about three years, and by the affiftance of an excellent tutor, made a very great proficiency in academical learning; but his genius inclining him more to ftudies of a gayer and fofter kind, he quitted the University, and applied himself to hiftory and poetry. His own merit, added to the recommendation of his brother in law, (John Florio, fo well known for his Italian Dictionary) procured him the patronage of Queen Anne, the confort of King James I. who was pleased to confer on him the honour of being one of the Grooms of the Privy-Chamber, which enabled him to rent a house near London, where privately he compofed many of his dramatic pieces. He was VOL. I. N° 3. H tutor tutor to Lady Ann Clifford, and on the death of the great Spenfer, he was appointed Poet Laureat to Queen Elizabeth. Towards the end of his life he retired to a farm which he had at Beckington near Philips-Norton in Somerfetfhire, where after fome time spent in the fervice of the Mufes, and in religious contemplation, he died in the year 1619. He left no iffue by his wife Juftina, to whom he was married several years. Wood fays, that in the wall over his grave there is this infcrip tion; Here lies expecting the fecond coming of our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift, the dead body of Samuel Daniel efquire, that excellent poet and historian, who was tutor to Lady Ann Clifford in her youth, fhe that was daughter and heir to George Clifford earl of Cumberland; who in gratitude to him erected this monument to his memory a long time after, when she was' Countess Dowager of Pembroke, Dorfet and Montgomery. He died in October, Anno 1619. Mr. Daniel's poetical works, confifting of dra matic and other pieces, are as follow; 1. The Complaint of Rofamond. 2. A Letter from Octavia to Marcus Antonius, 8vo. 1611. Thefe two pieces refemble each other, both in fubject and file, being written in the. Ovidianmanner, with great tenderness and variety of paffion. The measure is Stanzas of feven lines. Let the following fpecimen fhew the harmony and delicacy of his numbers, where he makes Rofamond freak of beauty in as expreffive a manner as defcription can reach. Ah! Ah! beauty Syren, fair inchanting good, Dumb eloquence whofe power doth move the blood, More than the words or wisdom of the wife; Within a brow; the key which paffions move, 3. Hymen's Triumph, a Paftoral Tragi-Comedy1. prefented at the Queen's Court in the Strand, at her Majefty's entertainment of the King, at the nuptials of lord Roxborough, London, 1623, 4to. It is introduced by a pretty contrived Prologue by way of dialogue, in which Hymen is oppofed by avarice, envy and jealoufy; in this piece our author fometimes touches the paffions with a very delicate hand. 4. The Queen's Arcadia, a Paftoral Tragi-Comedy, prefented before her Majefty by the univerfity of Oxford, London 1623, 4to. 5. The Vifion of the Twelve Goddeffes, prefented in a Mafque the 8th of January at HamptonCourt, by the Queen's moft excellent Majefty and her Ladies. London 1604, 8vo. and 1623, 4to. It is dedicated to the Lady Lucy, countefs of Bedford. His defign under the fhapes, and in the perfons of the Twelve Goddeffes, was to fhadow out the bleflings which the nation enjoyed, under the peaceful reign of King James I. By Juno was reprefented Power; by Pallas Wifdom and Defence; by Venus, Love and Amity; by Vefta, Religion; by Diana, Chastity; by Proferpine, Riches; by Macaria, Felicity; by Concordia, the Union of Hearts; by Aftræa, Juftice; by Flora, the Beauties of the Earth; by Ceres, Plenty ; and by Tathys, Naval Power. 6. The Tragedy of Philotas, 1611, 8vo. it is dedicated to the Prince, afterwards King Charles I. H 2 This in This play met with fome oppofition, because it was reported that the character of Philotas was drawn for the unfortunate earl of Effex, which obliged the author to vindicate himfelf from this charge, in an apology printed at the end of the play; both this play, and that of Cleopatra, are written after the manner of the ancients, with a chorus between each act. 7. The Hiftory of the Civil Wars between the Houfes of York and Lancaster, a Poem in eight books, London, 1604, in 8vo. and 1623, 4to. with his picture before it. 8. A Funeral Poem on the Death of the Earl of Devonshire, London, 1603, 4to. 9. A Panegyric Congratulatory, delivered to the King at Burleigh-Harrington in Rutlandfhire, 1604 and 1623, 4to. 10. Epiftles to various great Perfonages in Verfe, London, 1601 and 1623, 4to. 11. The Paffion of a Diftreffed Man, who being on a tempeft on the fea, and having in his boat two women (of whom he loved the one who difdained him, and fcorned the other who loved him) was, by command of Neptune, to cast out one of them to appeafe the rage of the tempeft, but which was referred to his own choice. If the reader is curious to know the determination of this man's choice, it is fummed up in the concluding line of the poem. She must be caft away, that would not fave. 12. Mufophilus, a Defence of Learning; written dialogue-wife, addreffed to Sir Fulk Greville. 13. Various Sonnets to Delia, 57 in number. 14. An Ode. 15. A Paftoral. 16. A Defcription of Beauty. 17. To the Angel Spirit of Sir Philip Sidney. 18. A Defence of Rhime. All thefe pieces are published together in two vo lumes, lumes, 12mo. under the title of the poetical pieces of Mr. Samuel Daniel. But however well qualified our author's genius was for poetry, yet Langbain is of opinion that his hiftory is the crown of all his works. It was printed about the year 1613, and dedicated to Queen Anne. It reaches from the ftate of Britain under the Romans, to the beginning of the reign of Richard II. His hiftory has received enco miums from various hands, as well as his poetry: It was continued by John Truful, with like brevity and candour, but not with equal elegance, till the reign of Richard II. A. D. 1484. Mr. Daniel lived refpected by men of worth and fathion, he pafled through life without tafting many of the vicillitudes of fortune; he feems to have been a fecond rate genius, and a tolerable verfifier; his poetry in fome places is tender, but want of fire is his characteristical fault. He was unhappy in the choice of his fubject of a civil war for a poem, which obliged him to defcend to minute defcriptions, and nothing merely narrative can properly be touched in poetry, which demands flights of the imagination and bold images. Sir JOHN HARRINGTON, ORN at Kelton near the city of Bath, was B the fon of John Harrington efquire, who was imprifoned in the Tower in the reign of Quech Mary, for holding a correfpondence with the Lady Elizabeth, with whom he was in great favour after her acceffion to the crown, and received many H 3 tefti |