-Vol. xviii. The expression perhaps applies rather to his
lordship's want of ability than inclination; and Dryden says indeed, in
the dedication, that it is in his nature to be an encourager of good
poets, though fortune has not yet put into his hands the power of
expressing it. In a letter to Mrs. Steward, Dryden speaks of Ratcliffe
as a poet, "and none of the best."--Vol. xviii.

[8] Vol. xviii.

[9] Copied from the Chandos picture. Kneller's copy is now at Wentworth
House, the seat of Earl Fitzwilliam.

[10] The antiquary may now search in vain for this frail memorial; for
the house of Chesterton was, 1807, pulled down for the sake of the
materials.

[11] The exact pecuniary arrangements for the Virgil are a matter of
much dispute, almost every biographer taking a different view. It seems
most probable that the payment was fifty pounds per two books, not fifty
for each. The point will be more fully discussed on the letters dealing
with the subject.--Ed.

[12] This gave rise to a good epigram:

"Old Jacob, by deep judgment swayed,
To please the wise beholders,
Has placed old Nassau's hook-nosed head
On poor Aeneas' shoulders.

To make the parallel hold tack,
Methinks there's little lacking;
One took his father pick-a-pack,
And t'other sent his packing."

[13] "I am of your opinion," says the poet to his son Charles, "that, by
Tonson's means, almost all our letters have miscarried for this last
year. But, however, he has missed of his design in the dedication,
though he had prepared the book for it; for, in every figure of Aeneas,
he has caused him to be drawn, like King William, with a hooked nose."
Dryden hints to Tonson himself his suspicion of this unworthy device,
desiring him to forward a letter to his son Charles, but not by post.
"Being satisfied, that Ferrand will do by this as he did by two letters
which I sent my sons, about my dedicating to the king, of which they
received neither."--Vol. xviii.

[14] Johnson's "Life of Dryden."

[15] [Professor Masson calculates, apparently on good grounds, that
Simmons probably made about five or six times what he paid. This, in not
much more than a year, cannot be considered a bad trade return; but the
sale price of "Paradise Lost" seems to provoke unfounded commonplaces
from even the most unexpected sources.--ED.]

[16] "I confess to have been somewhat liberal in the business of titles,
having observed the humour of multi