FRANCIS BEAUMONT, &c. From an original, in the possession of the Duke of Dorset. G. Vertue sc. l. h. sh. One of the set of Poets. A copy by the same hand; 8vo.

FRANCIS BEAUMONT, with the heads of Fletcher, Milton, and Cowley. J. Simon f. h. sh. mezz.

FRANCIS BEAUMONT; mezz. J. Faber.

FRANCIS BEAUMONT.

Audinet sc.

JOHANNES FLETCHER, episcopi Lond. filius. Vertue sc. large h. sh. One of the Twelve Poets. A copy by Vertue; 8vo.

FLETCHERUS. W. Marshall f. h. sh. engraved for the old edition of his and Beaumont's Plays.

JOHN FLETCHER, in the print with Beaumont, &c. JOHN FLETCHER. Audinet sc.

Beaumont and Fletcher generally wrote in conjunction. The former was remarkable for the accuracy of his judgment; the latter, for the force of his imagination. Their works resemble those of Moliere, in the variety and justness of characters. In Mr. Dryden's time, two of their plays were acted for one of Shakspeare's.* Beaumont died in 1615; Fletcher, in 1625:

JOHANNES DONNE, quadragenarius. Lombart sc. 8vo. The original was painted before he took holy orders.

Dr. John Barwick tells us, in his "Life of Bishop Morton," that he saw a portrait of Donne, at Lincoln's Inn, all enveloped with a

* The merit of a dramatic poet is always seen in the strongest light on the stage. Mr. Garrick, who thoroughly understood Shakspeare, exhibited a thousand of his beauties, which had before escaped the mob of actors and of readers; and carried his fame much higher than it was ever raised in any former period. It is hard to say whether Shakspeare owed more to Garrick, or Garrick to Shakspeare.

MICHAELIS

DRAYTON

Lu Hareshulla tibi Warwici villa, tenebris

Ante tuas Cunas, obsita Prima fuit.
Arma, Viros, Veneres, Patriam modulamine dixti
Je Patric resonant Arma Viri Veneres.

TAD

Caut luck Haule 3 Strand

darkish shadow, his face and features hardly discernible, with this ejaculation and wish written thereon, "Domine illumina tenebras meas:" and that this wish was afterward accomplished, when, at the persuasion of King James, he entered into holy orders. See class the ninth in the preceding reign, and the fourth in this.

THOMAS SACKVILLE, earl of Dorset, &c. See a description of his head, Class II.

His "Gorboduc," written in conjunction with Thomas Norton, and first published under the title of "Ferrex and Porrex,” 1565, gained him a very great reputation; as it was the first tragedy, that deserved that name, in the English language. Both the tragedies and comedies written before, appear, at best, to be only remnants of Gothicism. There is, in this elegant performance, a simplicity of language, and propriety of character, which are still admired. It was republished by Mr. Spence, in 1736; and after that, in a collection of old plays, printed by Dodsley.

MICHAEL DRAYTON, armiger, Et. 50, 1613. W. Hole sc. Four Latin verses. Frontisp. to his Works, in a pot folio, 1619.

MICHAEL DRAYTON, armiger, &c. in an oval; four Latin verses; 8vo. W. Richardson.

There is a small head of him, by Marshall, in the engraved title to his poems, 1647, 8vo.

The late Lord Lansdowne had an original of him, which he highly valued. It was supposed to have been done by Peter Oliver.

The reputation of Drayton, in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. stood on much the same level with that of Cowley, in the reigns of Charles I. and II.; but it has declined considerably since that period. He frequently wants that elevation of thought which is essential to poetry; though, in some of the stanzas of his "Barons' Wars," he is scarcely inferior to Spenser. In his "England's Heroical Epistles," written in the manner of Ovid, he has been, in general, happier in the choice, than the execution of his subjects; yet some of his imitations are more in the spirit of that poet than

* A great part of this tragedy was written by Thomas Norton.

several of the English translations of him. His "Nymphidia, or Court of Fayrie," seems to have been the greatest effort of his imagination, and is the most generally admired of his works. Hist character among his friends was that of a modest and amiable man. Ob. 1631.

SAMUEL DANIEL. Cockson sc. 1609.-His head is before his " History of the Civil Wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster, a Poem, in eight Books," Lond. 1623; 4to. This head has been copied by Bretherton.

SAMUEL DANIEL; 8vo. W. Richardson.

Samuel Daniel succeeded Spenser as poet-laureat to Queen Elizabeth, and was then thought to have merited the laurel. His prose, in his " History of England," has much more simplicity and elegance than is to be found in the generality of the writers of his age; but his poetry is too prosaic to gain many admirers in the present. He was one of the grooms of the privy-chamber to Anne of Denmark, who was much taken with his conversation and writings. His poems and plays have been several times printed. The last edition was in two vols. 12mo. 1718. Ob. 1619.

SIR THOMAS OVERBURY. S. Passæus sc.; ; five English verses. This has been copied.

SIR THOMAS OVERBURY, writing his epitaph. R. Elstracke sc. Compton Holland exc. h. sh. extra rare; copied by W. Richardson.

SIR THOMAS OVERBURY, in an oval; bushy hair; 8vo. There is a print of him in the " Narrative History of King James, for the first fourteen years," &c. 1651;

4to.

Sir Thomas Overbury, a gentleman of eminent parts and learning, and of judgment and experience beyond his years, was long the friend and confidant of Robert Car, earl of Somerset. His abilities were of singular service to that favourite, who did nothing without