e end of his days his
invectives against the bonds of matrimony were bitter and deep. In
justice it must be mentioned the Lady Elizabeth's mental condition
was supposed to be unsettled; a conjecture which was proved true by a
madness which befell her, subsequent to her husband's death.

Dryden was now a well known figure in town, consorting with men of
the highest quality and parts, and gossiping with wits and players
who frequented Will's coffee-house. Here, indeed, a special chair was
appropriated to his use; which being placed by the fire in winter, and
on the balcony in summer, he was pleased to designate as his winter and
his summer seat. At Will's he was wont to hold forth on the ingenuity of
his plays, the perfection of his poems, and the truth of astrology. It
was whilst leaving this coffee house one night a memorable occurrence
befell the poet, of which more anon.

It happened at one time the brilliant, poetical, and mercurial Earl of
Rochester extended his favour and friendship towards Dryden, gratified
by which, the poet had, after the manner of those days, dedicated a play
to him, "Marriage a la Mode." This favour his lordship received with
graciousness, and no doubt repaid with liberality. After a while,
Dryden, led by choice or interest, sought a new patron in the person of
the Earl of Mulgrave. For this nobleman Rochester had long entertained
a bitter animosity, which had arisen from rivalry, and had been
intensified from the fact that Rochester, refusing to fight him, had
been branded as a coward. Not daring to attack the peer, Rochester
resolved to avenge himself upon the poet. In order to effect his
humiliation, the earl at once bestowed his favour on Elkanah Settle, a
playwright and poet of mean abilities. He had originally been master
of a puppet-show, had written verses to order for city pageants, and
produced a tragedy in heroic verse, entitled "Cambyses, King of Persia."

His patron being at this time in favour with the king, introduced Settle
to the notice of the court, and induced the courtiers to play his second
tragedy, "The Empress of Morocco," at Whitehall, before their majesties.
This honour, which Dryden, though poet laureate, had never received,
gave Elkanah Settle unmerited notoriety; the benefit of which was
apparent by the applause his tragedy received when subsequently produced
at the Duke's Theatre in Dorset Gardens. Nor did the honour and profit
which "The Empress of Morocco" brou